Category: “Summer Vocation” series

God Calls Me to Glorify Him

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(Colossians 3:15-17)

Three letters, SDG, not to be confused with the San Diego Gas & Electric company (SDGE), can sometimes be found at the close of a Christian book or essay. Many a paper at pastor conferences has closed with those very letters. The Lutheran composers Bach and Handel included the letters in many of their musical compositions. What do they stand for? They are three Latin words – Soli Deo Gloria – which mean, “to God alone be the glory.” It is a reminder that whatever worthwhile or significant contribution a person might make, God, who gave everyone their ability, skill, and talent to do anything excellent at all, is the one who deserves the glory. 

As we consider that element of our vocation, our calling, to glorify God, it might be helpful to first define what it means to give glory to someone or something. We sing of it in our songs and hymns, we come across it again and again in the Bible, so what do we mean when we speak of giving glory to or glorifying God? Is it one of those churchy terms that naturally flows from our lips without really processing in our heads and hearts what it actually means? What then does it mean to glorify God?

Actually, before we step into the “what” or even “how,” we may better be served addressing the “why.” Why glorify God? If we don’t know why it makes a difference to give glory to God, then the what or the how don’t really matter, do they? The what without the why ends up being that unused kitchen gadget that you had to have at the time, but which ends up at the back of the gadget drawer or tucked away in the back of a cupboard somewhere because you don’t remember why you ever got it. Knowing what or how it looks like to glorify God will only help us if knowing why moves and compels us to actually do so.

First things first, let’s be clear on this: God is already glorious. Glory already belongs to God. It is his, entirely independent of anything we might do. God doesn’t need us to give him glory. The psalmist pointed to creation itself as an indicator of his glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Moreover, Jesus, the heart and soul of everything God had promised, by virtue of the victory he came to bring all people, is rightly called “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). So glory already belongs to God. It is his as a result of his jaw-dropping creation and his unconditional salvation. In that regard we cannot bestow glory to God anymore than we can give the sun light or heat, for the sun is the source of those things and they emanate from it. In the same way, God’s glory emanates from him. Therefore, when we speak of glorifying him, this isn’t talk of giving something to God that he somehow lacks.

Why then do we glorify him? Why do we speak of giving him glory if it’s already his? The Bible reveals no fewer than three reasons why. First, when we glorify God we are simply acknowledging and highlighting the glory that is already his. We’re giving it the attention it deserves, giving him the attention he deserves. In giving glory to God, we are saying God is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). I recently saw a close-up of the glitter on Simone Biles’ gymnastics uniform. There is a subtle – or not so subtle once you realize it’s there – picture of a goat on it. Why? Because she is considered the GOAT of gymnastics, the greatest of all time. While there will always be debate over who is the goat in their respective fields when it comes to celebrities and superstars, there is no debate when God is brought into the discussion. We glorify him because we acknowledge that God is the GOAT. There never was, nor will there be anyone or anything greater. He is truly the greatest of all time. 

One who understood this and reflected it beautifully was John the Baptist. In speaking of Jesus, John the Baptist reflected: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Less of us to make room for more of God. We’ve all seen the decal on the back of cars that reflects this attitude, He > i. In humility we recognize that God is worthy of all attention, commendation, praise, and anything else of worth we might offer up to him. We glorify God because he alone is worthy of it. God is the GOAT.  

In doing so, we also benefit. A second reason we glorify God becomes rather obvious when reflecting on the frequency of a certain attitude in the words from Colossians. Each verse in its own way reveals the same attitude, one of gratitude. The phrases “be thankful,” “with gratitude in your hearts,” and “giving thanks” go hand-in-hand with glorifying God. Which one comes first, the glorifying or the gratitude? It doesn’t matter – they feed off of each other! As we glorify God, it fills us with gratitude, and the more we’re filled with gratitude, the more we want to glorify God. It becomes a spiritually healthy cycle that just keeps feeding itself. Glory leads to gratitude, and gratitude leads to glory. God is magnified, and we are filled with gratitude. 

Now I don’t know where you might struggle emotionally. It might be worry that weighs on you. Perhaps anxiety rather easily overwhelms you. Maybe anger or short bursts of rage have plagued you. But you know what can help with all of them? Gratitude. It’s not very easy to worry, to be anxious, or to be angry when I am filled with gratitude. In fact, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, for those emotions to coexist with gratitude! Why else do we glorify God? Because when we remember that God is the GOAT, we also benefit, for glorifying him fills us with gratitude. 

The third reason we glorify God is for the benefit of others. Through faith our eyes have been opened to see God’s glory in so many ways. But Paul reminds us elsewhere that that isn’t the case for everyone. Sin blurs God’s glory so that it is not naturally seen. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). If you’ve been hiking or outside enjoying nature and caught sight of something spectacular off in the distance or using binoculars, it’s frustrating when you try to help someone else see it, but they can’t spot it. We point here and give directions there as to where they should be looking, but no matter what, they just can’t see it. We want so badly for them to see what we’re looking at, but the moment passes and they miss out. 

God doesn’t want that to be the case when it comes to the unbeliever seeing his glory. So what is his solution? You are. Listen to how Peter echoed the words of Jesus from our Gospel (cf. Mt. 5:13ff) this morning. Peter wrote, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12). What does it mean for them to “see your good deeds and glorify God”? It means that they were brought to faith – through you! Not that God somehow did an end-around and avoided his Word in the process, but rather through you, God wants to draw others to his glory, always revealed through the Word, so they, too, might know him as their Savior! That’s why Jesus sends us to be salt and light, so that others might bring him glory by believing in him. 

We may not always like playing the numbers game. We sometimes downplay the tracking of numbers, of attendance, of metrics, and surely we do have to be careful when it comes to an unhealthy focus on numbers. But you know what? God is a numbers guy. God is very interested in numbers! You know how many people he wants to be in heaven with him to spend eternity with him when he returns on the Last Day? More. Always more. It’s safe to say that if Jesus hasn’t returned yet, God is waiting for more to be added. That means he’s waiting for you to glorify him with your good deeds that are so attractive to the unbelieving world that they are drawn to him and to his Word, and are added to his kingdom. 

There’s your why. We glorify God because God is the GOAT, because it fills us with gratitude, and because it turns unbelievers into believers. Now let’s put some gas in the tank. What fuels us to give glory to God? It’s the peace that he first gives to us. Gratitude isn’t the only theme that runs through the verses from Colossians this morning; so is peace. Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17). Where does the gratitude that goes hand-in-hand with glorifying God come from? It comes from the peace that we have in Jesus. 

Do you have that peace? I mean, really, does peace mark your days? Are they characterized by peace, or… something else? Busyness? Inadequacy? Guilt? Restlessness? You do know that Jesus came to set you free from all of that, right? So if you don’t have it, why don’t you have it? Paul hits on what might be one thing to address if you’re lacking peace: “let the message of Christ dwell in you richly.” Richly. Richly. Richly. When we allow the Word to be an afterthought or an “I’ll get to it later” in our lives, we’re only robbing ourselves of the peace we already have in Jesus! He’s already done it all. You are forgiven. You are at peace with God. Your sin doesn’t count against you. And, the icing on the cake is that he’s already perfectly glorified his Father (cf. John 17) in your place! The work has been done. Live in the joy that Jesus has already earned for you. There is no fear for the child of God; just peace. When we live in that peace, glorifying God pours naturally out of it. 

So now to the practical matter of carrying out our calling, of giving glory to God – how do we do this? What qualifies as giving glory to God? After all, giving glory to God is a pretty big deal, right, so we must be talking about stuff on a pretty grand scale! Rightly giving glory to God surely involves overseas mission trips and generous charitable gifts and serving faithfully for years on church boards and committees – these are the things that truly glorify God, right? Sure they do. 

But so do these: the every day, the mundane, the routine, the often-overlooked, the seemingly small and unnoticed words and actions that we carry out every single day. These, too, are the things by which we can glorify God! It’s not the scale of the service that determines whether or not God is glorified in what we do, but rather the spirit of faith by which we do it. Simply put, virtually anything we do can be a way to glorify God, which is what Paul was emphasizing when he wrote “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (v.17). When I consider that it is God who gave me the life and breath and health and ability to do anything and everything, all of it can glorify him. Then go and take out the trash to God’s glory. Wash the dishes to God’s glory. Lend your neighbor a hand to God’s glory. Change a diaper to God’s glory. Work hard at your job and help your coworker who is behind on a deadline to God’s glory. Attend church to God’s glory. Post on Facebook to God’s glory. Go on a date to God’s glory. When these and everything else we do are carried out because the peace we have in Jesus fills us up with such gratitude, then we are carrying out God’s calling to glorify him. And we joyfully do that because God is the GOAT, because it raises our own gratitude, and because God uses it to make believers out of unbelievers. So go out and live an SDG life – Soli Deo Gloria; “to God alone be the glory.”

God Calls Me to Manage His Gifts Faithfully

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(2 Corinthians 8:1-15)

I may have lied last Sunday. After touching on the topic of discipleship, we reviewed some of the characteristics of disciples of Jesus – holding to his teachings, loving others, fruit-bearing, and disciple-making, for example. That’s when we got into the challenge of bearing one’s cross. Now if I made the point that cross-bearing was the most challenging aspect of discipleship, I may have to take that back. Cross-bearing may have some competition: giving. 

Have you noticed that none of Paul’s letters start out with, “Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I am writing to you to address the matter of offerings and your giving”? If you have been through the first 15 lessons of our membership class, you may have noticed we didn’t even touch the matter of giving and offerings. That doesn’t come until the second half of the class. If the matter of giving and offerings is so important – and it is extremely important – then why don’t we touch on it sooner?

There is a reason. Well, there are a number of reasons. But, there is one that stands out among all the others. Godly, generous giving is built on a solid foundation of grace, and a solid foundation of grace takes time to build. It isn’t a foundation that is poured in one shot, like the foundation for our storage building north of the school. It is a foundation that is made solid by continuous amounts of grace poured into it over time. So if the topic of Godly, generous giving makes you uncomfortable, leads you to roll your eyes or tune out, be patient – your foundation of grace is still being poured. But please don’t give up – keep pouring more and more grace into it, and eventually your foundation will be sturdy enough to experience the genuine joy of generous giving. 

Paul’s encouragement to the Christians in Corinth demonstrates that growing in the grace of giving requires ongoing attention. In our verses today, he is revisiting the matter of a special offering that was being taken up to support ministry. He concluded his earlier letter to the Corinthians with encouragement and directions on how to proceed with that special offering (cf. 1 Cor. 16). Now, as he reports on the status of that offering here in 2 Corinthians, he cheers on the Corinthians with more grace to equip them to finish what they had started. He is reminding them of their calling to manage God’s gifts faithfully. As he does this, we want to take note of how Paul encourages the Corinthians. 

One way: He points them to other givers, the Macedonian churches. “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we had expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will” (v.1-5). Paul held up the cluster of congregations in Macedonia as examples of godly givers. What made them stand out? They overcame an obstacle – a pretty significant one when it comes to giving! – they turned poverty into generosity. They pleaded to participate. They exceeded expectations. 

Turning poverty into generosity would seem to be impossible. It would be, but God is in the business of doing the impossible. If you aren’t familiar with it, there’s a great book you should read that provides examples: it’s called the Bible. Whether providing an abundance of food out of nothing for the Israelites wandering in the desert or miraculously multiplying bread and fish to feed families by the thousands, God can turn poverty into generosity. The Macedonians were examples of this. 

They also pleaded to participate in the offering. If you’ve been around long enough, you know that isn’t natural. When someone approaches me and asks how they can go about directing an offering to this or giving a gift for that, such a request doesn’t come from coercion or law-driven duty; it is rather a reflection of the same attitude present in generous giving, an attitude that realizes that in Jesus Christ we have everything we need and more. That realization compels a person to seek out opportunities to thank God through giving, to express gratitude through giving.

That in turn results in exceeded expectations, just as it did in the Macedonians. If we limit generosity to something that can only apply to the well-off, then we might as well write-off a significant portion of Christ’s church! But the Macedonians are evidence that anyone can exceed expectations when it comes to giving. From a giving standpoint, this is also perhaps easier to understand when we consider that generosity isn’t solely defined by amount, but by attitude. The widow in the temple didn’t give much in terms of amount, but her attitude was more generous than anyone else there – she gave all she had (cf. Luke 21)! Attitude – not merely amount – has as much to do with generosity. Remember that God is the one who enables anyone to manage his gifts faithfully. For that reason, it shouldn’t surprise us at all that Paul used the Macedonians as an example of turning poverty into generosity, pleading to participate, and exceeding expectations. 

How did they achieve all of these? They gave themselves first to the Lord. When we decide not to let greedy hearts govern our giving, but instead give ourselves to the Lord, there is no limit to what he is able to accomplish. In terms of giving, he made the Macedonian churches into a rags-to-riches story, taking their poverty and transforming it into generosity. How does that happen? It’s easy for God to do, for when we give ourselves first to the Lord, he transforms our attitudes, and generosity flows from there in all kinds of amounts. So when we give ourselves to the Lord, perhaps he’s eagerly waiting to make modern-day Macedonians out of us. 

In addition to pointing the Corinthian Christians to other givers, there is a second method of encouragement which Paul uses: he reminds them of their gifts. “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (v.7). Paul had touched on the matter of spiritual gifts extensively in his first letter, which would lead us to conclude that the congregation had been richly blessed an abundance of such gifts. In that case, not only did Paul encourage them to use their gifts to build each other up, but to continue pursing them and growing in them. In the same way here, then, he parallels the matter of giving with their gifts. “You excel in the area of spiritual gifts,” Paul was saying, “now apply that same pursuit of excellence in the area of giving. Just as God blessed you exceptionally with gifts, so also he can bless you exceptionally in the grace of  giving.” 

Really, in pointing to givers and gifts as encouragement for Godly giving, Paul is appealing to the same underlying ingredient in both examples: he appeals to grace. If you’ve been paying close attention to all of these verses, you’ll see that grace isn’t just one aspect of giving – it’s really woven throughout the whole conversation. Grace is so overflowing in abundance in these verses that you can see it seeping through the cracks of everything Paul writes! Here’s what it sounds like: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (v.9). I don’t need to know what your gross income was on your last tax return was – I already know you are rich! No matter how a shaky stock market affects your investment portfolio – I already know you are rich! Regardless of what your checking or savings accounts say tomorrow or twenty years from tomorrow, I already know you are rich! It doesn’t matter how much – if any – your family member leaves you in the inheritance – I already know you are rich! But here’s the question: do you? Do you know how rich you are when you have everything you need in Jesus Christ? Because when you know that, you will give generously as you manage his gifts faithfully. 

If you’re not there yet, here’s why: even though you might love the idea of grace and think it’s the best thing in the world (it is!), and be absolutely thrilled that grace means you have a place in heaven (it does!), still… you haven’t let grace into your wallet. You haven’t let grace into your purse. It hasn’t yet made its way into your bank accounts and your investment accounts. Because when grace makes its way into those places in our lives, God makes sure that it multiplies into rich generosity. 

Do you notice a common theme here when it comes to this important matter of offerings, of managing his gifts faithfully? God is not a groveler, he’s a giver. God has not, does not, will not, ever come to you begging for money. He doesn’t desperately need your giving to make ends meet. No, God is the one who gives. But as long as you view this spiritual matter of offerings as God taking something from you instead of God giving everything to you, you’ll continue to miss out on experiencing the joy of the grace of giving. You may give, but that’s not the same as enjoying it.

Suppose someone had never experienced the joy of sleeping on a feather pillow. Once the idea of sleeping on feathers had been explained to him, he grabbed a handful of them and placed them beneath his head before going to sleep for the night. After a restless night and a headache in the morning, he was frustrated that he had actually believed that sleeping on feathers would provide him with a good night’s sleep. 

What was his problem? He had not gathered nearly enough feathers! Had he gathered fistful after fistful of feathers and held them together in a bag or a sack, he would have experienced the joy of sleeping on a cloud-like feather pillow! So it should not surprise us that giving for many Christians is not a matter of joy because they cheerlessly give so little. 

Grace, however, changes that. Paul pointed to the Macedonian churches as a prime example. The final question is this: will you let grace make an example of generous giving out of you, too, as you manage his gifts faithfully?

God Calls Me to Bear My Cross

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(Luke 9:21-26)

If you want to tune out for a bit, this might be the sermon to do so, because Jesus isn’t speaking these words to everyone. How do we know that? Because he’s only addressing “whoever wants to be [his] disciple” (v.23). That’s not everyone. That’s rather obvious when it comes to unbelievers. But it isn’t just unbelievers; it’s a whole lot of people inside the church that aren’t really interested in being disciples either. They may be quick to identify as Christians, but the blunt truth is, there’s no shortage of Christians who have little interest in being disciples.

Does being a Christian automatically make one a disciple? Consider two individuals enrolling at SDSU in the fall. One of them attends all the classes, completes the homework, studies hard, and eventually graduates. The other is there to party, making zero academic effort. Which one is the student? In that they are both technically enrolled and pay tuition, each would be considered a student. But an honest evaluation would conclude that only one of them is in reality a student. So also, Scripture lays out criteria that apply to disciples of Jesus: they hold to his teaching (Jn. 8:31), they love one another (Jn. 13:35), they bear fruit (Jn. 15:8), and they make other disciples (Mt. 28:19), to name a few. To that list, Jesus adds yet another challenge: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (v.23). There you have it. Jesus’ disciples are called to bear our cross. Doing so involves a three-step checklist: deny self, bear crosses, and Follow Jesus. 

Do you know why this is such a struggle for us? We want to jump right to the cross-bearing part, which is tough enough as it is… but made even tougher if we don’t address the bigger obstacle in the way before we even get to the cross-bearing part: ourselves. Imagine if every time you opened your eyes, no matter what you were trying to look at or which direction you were looking, all you saw directly in front of you was a mirror, reflecting yourself back to you. While there isn’t literally a mirror right in front of you 24/7, that really is the problem each one of us has – it’s completely natural for us to see ourselves before we see anyone or anything else.

Trace that reality all the way back to Eden. Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie that God was trying to hide their true reflection, that he didn’t want them to see how god-like they really were, convincing them that they’d see what they actually looked like if they just ate the fruit. The reality was, they had a perfect view – the wonderful image of a gracious, caring, loving God who designed an amazing world for them! But they traded it in to be able to replace that image with a picture of themselves.

They got it, but it wasn’t what they had hoped. The mirror with their reflection was completely cracked. It has been ever since, and sin’s curse has carried with it the desire to see only self and nothing else. So what does it mean to deny self? It means shattering the mirror so we can see beyond the reflection of self, so we can put up a fight against our selfish, self-absorbed worldview.

Then we’re ready to pick up a cross, right? We might think so, but we’re not done just yet denying self. There are two other obstacles that we often need to address. We need to slow down and put down. We think the more efficiently/faster we get things done, the sooner we’ll have time for God… but that only speeds up the treadmill; it doesn’t actually ever free us from it. We end up running ourselves ragged because we never slow down. 

And we need to put down. When we finally arrive at the cross we are to take up, we won’t be able to pick it up if we insist on having our hands full with the other things we are carrying! What do you insist on hanging on to that won’t free your hands to pick up your cross? To what are you so attached that it’s worth disqualifying you as a disciple, and possibly even resulting in a forfeit of eternal life? Jesus gave a very blunt warning and then followed it up with a very pointed question. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (v.24-25). Hang on to your loves in this life, whatever they may be, and you run the risk of losing out on eternal life. Put those things down.

Then, assuming we have slowed down and put down enough stuff to finally free up our hands so we can take up our cross, we’re ready to bear it, right? Just one problem: crosses aren’t pleasant! We want to avoid them! We don’t naturally gravitate toward them or ask the Lord for them, and when we see them in our lives, often our first reaction in prayer to the Lord is to ask him to remove them, to get rid of them. They get in the way of our best life now, of the life we’ve been trying to design for ourselves. Crosses, by definition, are not convenient! 

So why do we ever bother bearing any cross at all??? Because bearing crosses bears blessings. It wouldn’t seem like it, but each time you lift up that cross, to carry it, what you find on the other side are the blessings that God had hidden beneath it. Paul mentions many of those blessings in his letters, reminding us that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5), patient endurance, and comfort (2 Corinthians). We also know that in cases of suffering that the world cannot solve or explain, we are compelled to lean more and more on the Lord, to anchor our trust in him, which ultimately brings us into a closer relationship with him. And each of these blessings from cross-bearing ready us for the next cross to bear, which may be even slightly larger than the previous cross. That’s less daunting… when we realize that blessings are hidden beneath that cross – the larger the cross, the more blessings are hidden beneath it. 

Take that imagery literally. Picture a small cross, one the size of an earring or a necklace. We naturally want to avoid it because remember, bearing a cross will involve hardship and trial; it will in include some measure of suffering. But eventually, when you pick up that small cross, you see the blessings that were hidden underneath it, blessings that would have remained hidden had you never picked up the cross to carry it. Then you come across a little bit bigger cross, one the size of your hand. You immediately remember the difficulty that resulted the last time you picked up the smaller cross. But then you also remember the blessings hidden beneath it. So you pick up this cross, too, and sure enough, beneath the larger cross are hidden even more blessings. And so it goes throughout life – God allows one cross after another to come into your life, sometimes bigger than the previous. Our natural inclination is to avoid the cross, to leave it where it is. But each time we have picked up that cross, an abundance of rich blessings were hidden beneath it, blessings we could not have experienced without the trial or hardship that preceded them. So it is – we bear our cross, and God blesses our cross-bearing. 

We’ve denied, we’re picking up the cross. Now we follow Jesus. “There’s more?!? Weren’t the first two enough?!? What about when Jesus goes a direction I’d rather not, when he veers this way and I’d rather go that way?” Recently I met someone for coffee. It was a place I hadn’t been to yet, so I did what we all do and punched in the address to my navigational app and off we went. It worked just like it was supposed to… until I arrived at the address and there was no coffee place. It wasn’t hidden or tucked away somewhere that I couldn’t see; it was just gone, not at the destination I had punched in. A little looking around online revealed that it had recently moved – very close by, thankfully – but at a different address altogether.

Isn’t that often how our lives work? We punch in where we want to go or where we think we need to go and then we arrive and there’s nothing there, or at least not what we expected. Our own navigation system just isn’t trustworthy, is it? But you know what will never steer us wrong? Following Jesus.

Now following Jesus doesn’t mean that he will provide little signs along the way throughout our lives on every little decision we make. Following him doesn’t mean waiting for him to reveal which menu choice he wants you to make when you go out for breakfast. Neither does it mean he’ll reveal to you whether you should date this person or accept that job. But following him does mean that we look to God’s Word for guidance in our decision making. It does mean that we follow his guidance toward paths that help us avoid sin rather than paths that bring us closer to it. Following Jesus does mean that our relationship with the Bible ought to better resemble our relationship with our phone than it does our relationship with the unused treadmill or exercise bike sitting in the garage. 

And I know it seems like a tall order to follow in the footsteps of perfect Jesus! It IS a tall order! It is impossible. But think of it the way a small child follows in dad’s footsteps after piles of freshly fallen snow. He’d never be able to get through on his own without getting stuck in the snow. But what an easier time is made of it when he simply traces dad’s footsteps ahead of him, each step having packed down the snow in a clear path that makes it much easier to follow. That child will go his own direction at his own risk, but he can’t fail when he follows in his father’s footsteps.

Why is that the case when it comes to following in Jesus’ footsteps? Because we know that the value of following him is not in making it possible for us to perfectly keep in step with him; no, the value is in seeing where those footsteps led: to the cross. Ah, and we have come back to it again, haven’t we? The cross. But this time not to bear it ourselves, but rather in faith to gaze on the One who bore it willingly for us. For if we do not follow his steps to his cross daily in our lives, we will struggle mightily to ever see the point in bearing our own crosses. But to see his cross is to see the price Jesus paid to forgive self-absorbed, imperfect disciples, who prefer to go their own way and avoid any cross placed before them. To follow Jesus to his cross is to see that my forgiveness means freedom for cross-bearing!

Before calling his disciples to pick up their cross and follow him, Jesus reminded them that he had to be rejected, had to suffer, had to be put to death, and had to rise from the dead. All this had to happen so that we could call ourselves his disciples, bought and paid for with his own blood. All this had to happen so that we can now bear our crosses and follow him.

Is any of this easy? Will any one of us ever attain the status of perfect cross-bearers this side of heaven? Never. So God addressed that problem by sending the perfect cross-bearer. Literally. Jesus bore the cross for those who couldn’t as well as those who wouldn’t – he bore it for everyone. He bore his cross so that we can bear ours. We do so because cross-bearing brings blessings. THAT is our calling.

God Calls Me to Use My Unique Gifts

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(1 Corinthians 12:12-27)

Body image is a big deal. Advertisements and social media give a great deal of attention to body image, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. How you look and how others see you are frequently on your radar. We compare and frame a picture in our minds of what we’d like to look like and how we’d like others to see us. While we may blow it off to others or pretend it’s no big deal, the way our body looks matters to us. 

So make sure you pay attention to the healthiest body image you’ll ever have for the rest of your life. It’s found in the last verse of our lesson from 1 Corinthians today: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (v.27). Together you – along with all Christians – make up the body of Christ. Each of you is a part of it! Now imagine if someone complimented you on your body and said you had a body that reminded them of so-and-so. That would be quite a compliment. Yet, so long as you’re being compared to someone else, that other person is still the standard, right? But what if you were the standard? What if others were complimented because of how much they look like you? Notice Paul isn’t comparing you to something or someone greater; rather, he is paying you the greatest compliment – you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. How could we ever question our own worth or value if we are the body of Christ? And that, friends, is what we are. 

And don’t doubt it, because Paul lays out the certainty by which we can know we are the body of Christ. Back in verse 13 he stated, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body… and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” Whether by itself or attached to the water of baptism, the Word proclaimed, heard, and believed is always what brings a person into the body of Christ. There was no application, no criteria that had to be met to qualify to be accepted. The Holy Spirit opened our eyes to see the seriousness of our sin, the solution in our Savior, and the certainty of our salvation. So the Holy Spirit has connected you to the body of Christ, his church, made up of all believers everywhere.

As believers, we have made a commitment to stay connected. The Holy Spirit connected you to the body of Christ, he calls you the body of Christ, and he is the one who will keep you connected to the body of Christ. So if he’s the one doing all the work, to what are you really committing? Why are you bothering to promise anything if the Holy Spirit is responsible for keeping you connected?

Because you know how he does his work. You’ve learned that God the Holy Spirit uses his Word and Sacrament to feed and fortify our faith. So taking ownership of your faith and making the commitment to God and to a congregation and church body means that you will not rob the Holy Spirit of his ability to keep you in the faith. It is a very unpopular commitment in our world today: you will go to church, read and study the Bible, gather together with others to do so, pray, give offerings, serve, and for the rest of your life stay connected to Jesus by staying connected to his body, the Church, of which you are an important part. 

Another way to say it: be a consumer. We typically understand that term to refer to someone who buys or purchases goods or services. Such a person is a consumer. But it simply refers to anyone who is going to consume or use something. As a Christian, you are committing to being a consumer in church. You will gather around the Word to hear the Word and to use the Word. Be a consumer, a consumer of grace.

I cannot stress to you the importance of continuing to be a consumer of grace continually for the rest of your life. Grace is what makes us who we are, and if we neglect to be filled up with it, we not only run the risk of drifting apart from God, but we cut ourselves off from the spiritual blessings that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Grace is like the gas that fuels a car and keeps it running, or like the battery that powers your phone to keep it functioning. Without gas or a battery, there is nothing to make us go. So be consumers of grace.

And be careful of what can happen when you aren’t. Do you know what are two of the most common – but also very avoidable – impediments to growth (both for Christians individually and for congregations collectively)? They are both connected to being a consumer of grace. The first one is probably pretty easy to identify: it’s a failure to faithfully keep the promise that we make at confirmation to continue to be a consumer of grace. We gradually drift away from attending church, we couldn’t even locate a Bible in our homes if our life depended on it, and so we fail to fill up on grace. We are no longer consumers. We forget that the very grace that brought us to faith is the same grace that keeps us in faith. Eventually this can result in our falling away from Christ and his body.

The second is maybe not so easy to identify, but can also stymy Christian and congregational growth: it’s only being a consumer. That happens when a person takes the limited view that belonging to a church means little more than showing up on Sunday morning. When that is the extent of a person’s connection to a congregation, it can skew expectations to take a rather selfish turn. Over time the expectation can become that the church only exists to meet my needs, to cater to my preferences, to serve me as I prefer to be served. Oh, you will see such a person regularly enough at church on a Sunday morning, but what is missing is an understanding of the rest of what Paul covers in our verses this morning from 1 Corinthians: when you are connected to the body of Christ, you aren’t called just to be a consumer, but also a contributor. God has made you a part of his body so that your unique gifts could be used in service to the rest of the body of Christ. So as you commit to remaining connected to the body of Christ, his church, don’t just be consumers, be contributors.   

You know what’s really cool? You don’t have to wait. There isn’t some process where you have to wait for approval or reach a certain age when you suddenly can become contributors. You’re already a part of the body of Christ right now. You already have gifts right now. You can use them to contribute to and build up the body of Christ right now. Notice the different body parts Paul mentions: the foot, hands, eyes, ears, and nose. What is his point? It isn’t to make a case for one body part being more important than another, but rather to observe how each part has a role, each part is important, and each part serves the body as a whole. “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body” (v.18-20). It’s a fruitless discussion to debate which parts of the body of Christ are most important, because God’s answer to such silliness is simply, “You are.” “She is.” “He is.” “They are.” You are all important. You all matter. If you are a part of the body of Christ, then you have a role to play, a contribution to make. 

What might that look like? My encouragement to you would be to spend less time contemplating and more time contributing; less time second-guessing and more time serving. Contributing has far less to do with finding your perfect niche in the congregation, and much more to do with a willing heart that seeks to do what serves the body best. So rather than asking, “Where do I fit in best?”, ask “Where can I serve now? What is needed today? What opportunities are there” 

Young and old alike have a place to serve in the body of Christ. The longer I’ve been a part of the body, the more I have come to realize what a significant part young people actually play. See, something happens as we grow up and become adults: the world wears on us and we can become more cynical, more sour, more grumpy. Do you know what one of the best solutions to that is? Seeing young people in action. Seeing them contribute. Why do our faces light up during the Children’s Christmas service, or when the school children sing on a Sunday, or when they play chimes, or as they’re putting on a play? That’s not just because they’re cute kids, but because they give hope to adults. They provide optimism for the future, and not just because they’ll make a difference “someday,” but because they’re making a difference right now. Young people are a reminder in a difficult and sometimes very dark world, that God and his Word are very much alive and active, and they are the proof. We see young people serving, we see their gifts being used to build up the body of Christ, and they inspire us and give us hope. So let everyone contribute, and keep on contributing, because we all are encouraged by everyone’s contributions, served by them, and blessed by them. 

In Christ, your body image will always look good. So stay connected to the body of Christ, be a consumer of grace, and contribute with full confidence that you are a valued part of the body, and Jesus will use you to bless the rest of his body. THAT is your calling.

God Calls Me to Love and Serve My Neighbor

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(Luke 10:25-37)

It’s a modern re-telling of the story Jesus told, but without the happy ending. About ten years ago now, Hugo, a young homeless man from Guatemala, was stabbed on the streets of Queens, NY.  He had intervened to help a woman escape from an angry man and was stabbed in the process. After stumbling for a bit, Hugo fell to the ground bleeding. Tragic as that was, the account which was all caught on camera, gets more troubling when it reveals what happened over the next hour. One individual came upon Hugo, bent down on the sidewalk to shake him, and even moved him enough to see the pool of blood beneath him. He then walked away. Another two men saw him, talked about him for a bit, and even took a picture of him. Then they walked away, too. One passerby after another walked past, glanced his way, and kept right on walking. Hugo laid their dying for an hour before anyone called the police, at which point it was too late. Experts and psychologists have attempted to offer rational explanations for why no one helped a stabbed man, but they all seem to fall short, leaving us with the ugly reality of how easily mankind is inclined to avoid his vocation, his calling, to love and serve his neighbor. 

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that this is the type of story Jesus told to convict an expert in the law that his take on God’s call to love God and neighbor missed the mark. This story from Jesus, perhaps as much as any others he tells, makes us uneasy. We’d feel a lot better if Jesus had told a story about a cheating husband or a murderer or a liar or any number of other bad things that bad people do, because it’s easier for us to pretend we don’t belong lumped together with those kinds of people. But this one leaves us uncomfortable. This one doesn’t really leave us any easy loopholes by which to escape. It’s pretty clear when Jesus illustrates what it looks like to love and serve my neighbor, that I have neglected my neighbor often. 

And it’s not that we disagree that it’s important to help others. I don’t know too many people – believer or not – who would disagree that we ought to love and serve our neighbor. Most would agree that we’d all be better off as a society following this approach. So if so many people agree about it, then why isn’t it happening? The reason is profoundly simple, and I want to challenge you not just to hear it – don’t just listen for the reason – but take the lead in addressing the problem. You want to know what the problem is? We all agree that our vocation, our calling, is to love and serve our neighbor. In fact, we’re so much in agreement with the statement, that we spend most of our time monitoring how well everyone is doing it.

That’s the problem. How do we address it? Do it yourself, rather than living as if your life is a permanent stakeout, observing the lives of others while overlooking the neighbor you could be loving and serving right next to you. The world doesn’t need more arm-chair quarterback Christians, making it their business to assess how well the world is neighboring; the world needs more Christians – the world needs you – to step up your game in carrying out your calling to love and serve your neighbor. 

Admittedly, there is a HUGE obstacle that gets in the way of our serving our neighbor. The challenge with this obstacle is that we carry it with us everywhere we go: it’s our heart. Proverbs 20:9 asks, “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?’”  Since the Fall, our hearts have been hijacked by the prince of this world, and even though we belong to God by faith, our hearts still betray us and commit treason, serving the prince of this world instead of the Prince of Peace. Frankly, it shouldn’t surprise us when we struggle to love and serve our neighbor if our hearts, the very source of that love, are sour. Here are three ways that sour hearts stain loving service to our neighbor.

One: we prequalify those we are willing to help. When it comes to credit cards, no one likes to have to take the extra step of prequalifying. Credit card companies know this. It’s why you get all the junk mail for new credit cards that advertise that you’ve been prequalified for their latest, greatest card. Yet we prequalify those who need our help all the time. We have certain standards or expectations or opinions on those we’re willing to help. If we decide someone is taking advantage of unemployment, shame on them – they’ll get no help from me. The homeless drifter I am convinced is probably just going to use anything he gets to support his addiction will get nothing from me. The single mom who had children outside of marriage made that choice and now has to accept the consequences – don’t look to me for help. We prequalify all the time. We determine whose need is worth our time, when the better way is to see any neighbor in need, and take advantage of the time God has given us to meet that need.

A second way our sour hearts stain loving service to our neighbor: the motivation behind our service. What is prompting me to serve my neighbor? Is it genuine love for my neighbor, to meet her need at that specific time and place? Or, is it love for self, to feel better about doing something nice for someone? Or, is it a greater concern of other people’s opinion of me – that others take note of my kind actions? Is it a matter of quickly addressing what is perceived as merely an inconvenience for me? How often is my motivation so pure that it is nothing but genuine loving compassion for my neighbor that prompts me to love and serve him? Not very often.

This has a direct impact on the third way our sour hearts stain loving service to our neighbor: the extent to which we help. This deals with the wrestling match between helping to actually meet someone else’s need or to meet my need to feel good about helping someone. I’ll help meet someone’s needs… to the extent that it’s convenient for me. When that is the case, I am less concerned about whether or not what I offered actually helped the person, and more concerned with feeling good about having done anything at all. But real sacrifice, when it puts me out, when it takes more time than I have, when I have to return to square up the bill like the Samaritan? That is rare.

Then, in addition to these three heart issues, we Christians also have an escape clause that acts as a catch-all to get out of meeting my neighbor’s needs: we justify our neglect of others’ needs by reminding ourselves that Jesus is more concerned about people’s salvation and souls than he is their temporary needs. But why do we pit one against the other when Jesus clearly calls us to care about both? Did Jesus ever take anyone to task for feeding the hungry, telling them, “Stop that – they need spiritual food more than physical food. Don’t waste their time with silly things like hunger”? Or on the flip side, did he ever take anyone to task for talking about sin and grace and faith and forgiveness, saying, “Stop that – they don’t need all that religious talk; what they need is a hot meal”? No, Jesus says to do both, so why do we pit one against the other instead of looking for the countless opportunities he gives us to do both? 

Don’t be so shocked by any of the above – it’s all just a reflection of how corrupt our hearts are in a fallen world – so much for “people are basically good!” Yes, we’re pretty good at making sure our exteriors are nice and polished… as long as you don’t dig beneath the surface! No, don’t be shocked by the ugliness of what’s in here; be shocked by something else – that Jesus came to love and serve hearts like that! 

Wouldn’t it be something if the Samaritan did something else? Wouldn’t it be something if he tracked down the Levite and the priest and offered them some random act of kindness? How would we feel about the Samaritan if he reached out and helped those schmucks? It might make us bristle a bit. We’d cringe.

Until we connect the dots and realize that is our situation. Jesus was much more than a Good Samaritan; he is a perfect Savior. He didn’t just come for the left-for-dead on the side of the road; he came for those who heartlessly passed by the left-for-dead on the side of the road. He came to save sour hearts and souls. He came for you and me. Jesus is the solution David begged for in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God.”  Through Jesus, he did! No more sour hearts; our hearts are pure! Take up the invitation extended in Hebrews, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience…” (10:22)!

Friends, if that doesn’t change your heart, I am at a loss as to what possibly can. If the reality of the absolute best – Jesus – giving himself for you at your absolute worst doesn’t soothe your sour heart and cause it to start beating with an unyielding and relentless desire to pour yourself into loving service for others, then I am out of ideas. That’s all I have. I can’t drum up some inspirational, moving story that can ever pull at your heart strings like holy Jesus giving himself for heartless us. Rather than desert or ignore us, he mercifully rescued us. And we weren’t even his neighbor; we were his enemies! 

But not anymore! Now we are his friends. For eternity. Forever. What do friends do? They love and serve each other. Jesus continues to love and serve us with his Word and Sacrament to provide us with peace and forgiveness and gush over us with grace. How do we love and serve him? By loving and serving our neighbor. By loving and serving his other friends, the other souls precious and dear to him, the other souls for whom he died, the other souls with whom he longs to spend eternity. And no, you don’t need to wait until someone is left-for-dead to love and serve him; just look for someone who has a need – any need at all – and lovingly meet it as you’re able. THAT is your calling. 

God Calls Me a Dedicated Mom

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(1 Samuel 1:21-28)

What is “my calling.” That might be a good Jeopardy response if a contestant chose “Vocation for $500.” Simply put, your vocation is your calling. Today we begin a series that will clarify what our calling is and guide us in carrying out. While some talk about discovering their calling or feeling a calling from God, it’s actually much simpler than that. Your calling is the role God has given you to carry out right now where you’re at in life, and to carry it out in a way that serves God and others to the best of your ability with the unique gifts and responsibilities that God has given you. Are you a student – that is your calling. Employee? So is that. Single? Coach? Church member? Community volunteer? Instrumentalist? Sibling? Yes – each of these, all of these, some of these – any combination of these and so many other stations in life are what make up our calling. This morning we focus especially on one vocation: motherhood. And one doesn’t have to have children for this vocation to be worth our consideration, because none of us would be here today if not for mothers. So we appreciate the calling of motherhood from God.  

Hannah isn’t a bad mother to look at. Sadly, part of the reason she appears especially godly is because the men in the account don’t! Her own husband, well-intentioned as he might have been, comes off looking rather insensitive in his poor attempt to console her at her inability to have children. He points out that she shouldn’t be taking it so hard, because he should mean more to her than not being able to be a mother. Husbands, that’s how not to do it! Then the priest Eli, when he witnesses Hannah pouring out her soul in prayer to the Lord for the gift of a child, wrongly presumes she’s been drinking. Eli, who fails miserably at managing his own sons, assumes the worst of godly Hannah praying for a son of her own! So in stark contrast to the less than stellar examples provided by others in the account, Hannah’s godliness stands out. Her relationship with the Lord was not an afterthought. It wasn’t a means to an end. It was a priority, and it showed itself especially in the realm of motherhood.

It’s rare to see anyone with that kind of a dedicated faith-focused relationship with God. Moreover, mothers especially have the unique challenge of Satan pitting the blessing of children against God. One of the most subtle idols in our culture today is the devil’s elevation of children. While not a shock in the world, do not be naive and suppose that only the world struggles with such an idol as a child. Do not presume it is such a large leap for a child to jump from being a gift from God to becoming a gift over God. Now none of us would be terribly quick to admit that we can allow our children to become idols in our lives, but then, are we terribly quick to admit any idols in our lives? Isn’t that often the criteria that applies to something being a dangerous idol – we aren’t even aware that it is crowding out or already has crowded God out of our hearts as our first love? Or, we’re very aware of it, and will guard it tenaciously!

Children become our idols when our worlds either intentionally or unintentionally revolve around our kids. It happens when we are concerned more about their friends, finances, and future, than we are their faith. It happens when we allow their sports and their social schedules to push aside our Savior and our own spiritual growth. It happens when we spend more time worrying about their temporal life than we do praying for their eternal life. 

That’s a real danger, mind you – the idolatry of allowing our children to hold the primary place of importance in our lives. It’s one that God helped Abraham be aware of. Remember how God finally granted Abraham his own son with Sarah? That promise was a long time coming! All of God’s future promises hinged on that one child, and God finally granted him Isaac. Then, in a demand that knots up our hearts, God commanded Abraham to slay his own son and kill him. Why such a gut-wrenching request? God knew how easily a parent’s love for a child can replace a parent’s love for the Lord. That experience not only made it clear to Abraham, but it also was an opportunity to put his faith into action and demonstrate that Isaac had not replaced God as number one in Abraham’s heart.

How did Hannah – whose desire for a child was no small thing! – guard against her child, young Samuel, replacing God in her heart? She gave him away. How does a mother do that? She realizes her child is not hers; her child is His. Like absolutely everything else in this world, children belong to God first and foremost, and like everything else with which God blesses us, they are gifts on loan to be managed well. Her dedication to the Lord first and foremost was evident by her willingness to dedicate her own son in service to the Lord. She was so filled with gratitude at the gift of a son God had given her that in thanksgiving, she gave him back. It is not an easy thing to send a son or daughter away to high school like CLHS or MLS or LPS or college like MLC for possible service to the Lord in ministry, but it is one way to reflect that children are God’s gift on loan to us, and to dedicate them to possible future ministry is no small sacrifice. Hannah would have agreed.

But it isn’t just idolatry that mothers have to worry about. There’s another struggle that goes on in a mother’s heart, one that may not be so obvious to others: guilt. There is constant comparison to every other mother with children, and a natural tendency to zero in on the one other mother in the store or at the park who seems to effortlessly execute her mothering skills and ought to be teaching a “Momming 101” class somewhere. Or, when a mom thinks she may just be getting the hang of the motherhood thing, her own mom or mother-in-law deflates her with an observation or offers a “helpful” suggestion on how to handle something differently. Or, if she feels like a rockstar mothering and managing the children, feelings of failure in the marriage or neglecting her husband or not getting a job or some other perceived deficiency settles in. Guilt for mothers, whether self-imposed or brought on by others, can be crippling. So it isn’t the weight of a stroller, a diaper bag, or her child’s backpack that is the heaviest burden a mom often bears, but rather guilt. Guilt can easily outweigh them all.

Want a real solution to the danger of idolatry and the dread of guilt? Let’s talk about identity on Mother’s Day. If you are a mom, it’s easy to see that as your identity. It’s who you are. It’s where your focus is. It’s what you do around the clock. You care for your kids. You meet their needs. You schedule their appointments. You drive them around. You bandaid their scrapes. You grab their snacks. You wash their clothes and fold their laundry. You pack their suitcase. You make their bed. You do it all – you’re their mom!

But all moms are something else before they are mothers: they are daughters. And I am not talking about daughters to your own father and mother; I mean you aredaughters of the Lord. You are children of the heavenly Father. You are his. Before even the first thought of a name for your child crossed your mind, the Lord knew your name from eternity as his. Before God ever blessed you with the joy of holding a nursing infant in your arms, he held you in his heart. He chose you to be his long before ever blessing you with the status of motherhood. In Isaiah 43 he says as much: “But now, this is what the LORD says – ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine’” (v.1). 

And he went to the greatest of lengths to solidify your relationship with him! He himself was born of a woman so that he might redeem women, mothers included. He perfectly honored and respected his own mother in a way no one else ever has or could, so that his keeping of the Fourth Commandment might count as our perfect track record. He loved his Heavenly Father with a holy, perfect love. He never allowed another idol to displace that love in his heart, so that his pure heart would count in the place of our own idolatry, whether a mother’s disordered love for her children before God or any other idolatry that takes root in our heart. Finally, he bore all the sin, and all the shame and guilt along with it, when he was pierced for us, crucified, and gave his life not just for his own mother, but for every mother – to guarantee that every failed mother would be first and foremost his prized daughter.

And oh, how he cared! Even in the midst of unbearable suffering and pain, his heart went out to his own mother, as we were reminded in the Gospel for today. Even then he cared for Mary, not just as his mother, but as a daughter of the Lord. He looked after her. He cared for her. He cares for you, mother. Even when your own children do not appreciate you. Even when your husband doesn’t support you. The Lord cares for you and always will, for you are his daughter. 

The right relationship with the Lord allows mothers – and all of us – to have a right relationship with others. When the Lord is our first love, we are freed to be more concerned about our child’s faith than our child’s future. My child doesn’t need me to make sure that he’s never bored by ensuring around-the-clock entertainment – my child needs Jesus. Planning birthday parties and play dates aren’t priorities – Jesus is. Coordinating amazing experiences and unforgettable family vacations for my kids right now does nothing for my child in eternity the way Jesus does. The best thing a mom can do for a child is repeatedly point that child to Jesus and Jesus’ love for their child. That way everyone wins. The child will come to love Jesus more and more, which will in turn result in the best kind of love a child can give to a mother. Mom, help your child love Jesus more than your child loves you. They’ll love you for it. They’ll get a sample in you of the dedication the Lord has for them. And they’ll see you the way Jesus’ perfect life and payment for your sin has made you to be – as a dedicated mom. Happy Mother’s Day.