Sermons – Page 14

What’s your view of sex? How does hearing that word make you feel? What does it make you think of? Does a conversation about this topic fill you with dread, cause you to start to sweat, make you squirm as if you wish you could slip out of your own skin right now and escape? Do you feel a little bit of disgust or even offense that such a “taboo” topic would be discussed in a sermon or in church at all?

What’s your view of sex? Do you view it like a beautifully wrapped present (example)? The corners are perfectly folded, edges are straight and sharply lined up. The ribbon or bow matches marvelously. The tape is expertly applied, with the precision of a surgeon. The whole thing looks so beautiful.

Or, do you view it like this wretchedly wrapped gift (example)? Does it appear quite unappealing? The wrapping job itself looks like it was done by someone with ten thumbs and eyes closed? Parts of the paper are torn. There are unsightly stains on it. It looks like it has been mishandled and neglected and not treated with much care at all. The whole thing looks rather revolting.

Which one better represents the view you have of God’s gift of sex? Which one better represents the view God wants you to have of this gift? Without a show of hands, I suspect that an awful lot of us view it like the second gift, and sadly, it’s because we have experienced or maybe even continue to experience a number of tragic reasons why. Sexual abuse. Addiction. Resentment. Neglect. Guilt. Of course, God never intended any of those to be associated with this gift! But, as perhaps some of the most condemning evidence that we do live in a fallen world that has been demolished by disobedience, most, if not all of us, have at one time or another experienced blight instead of blessing when it comes to this gift.

Understand that these are the realities we’re dealing with that make this particular topic such a challenge. Firstly, it is the degree of hurt – whether we have been on the receiving end of it or if we have been the cause of it – that makes it so difficult to discuss. So we avoid talking about it with anyone else. We dismiss conversations with others about it because we deem it inappropriate. The result is that, when it comes to sex, the world is hollering while Christians remain hush, hush, and God’s gift is hijacked and ruined.

Secondly, the weighty burden of guilt when it comes to sex can be one of the heaviest we bear. Again, whether we have been on the receiving end or the cause of it, sexual guilt can be relentless. So we need constantly to be reminded that sexual sins – like all others – have been washed away 100% by Jesus’ blood. Paul stated it so strongly on the heels of a very firm warning. “Do not be deceived: the sexually immoral… will [not] inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Forgiveness in that section hits us like a bucket of cold water on a scorching day. On the heels of the condemnation sexual sin (along with a whole list of other sins) brings, Paul reminds us that because of Jesus Christ, no such sin – no sin – prohibits us from being at peace with God. Whatever we were, whether victim or culprit, no sexual sin defines us or disqualifies us from heaven. Whatever you were is not who you are. Rather, having been washed, sanctified, and justified, what you are is this: forgiven forever.

That good news of the gospel and the free and full forgiveness that is ours through it is why we as Christians can talk about this topic. No experience we have ever had or could have will change our status in God’s family. As members of his family, we can be real and honest about the challenges and frustrations that might exist when considering our relationship with God’s gift of sex even in a fallen world.

Ironically, as vocal as the world is about sex, it gets it all wrong. That’s because rather than being interested in the forgiveness God longs to flood us with, it is more concerned with acceptance. When that happens, the abuse of this gift isn’t regretted, but celebrated, even emphasized as our identity. Remember when we used to recognize celebrities for their movies or musicians for their music? Now we celebrate the latest sexual orientation that is revealed. Those are the headlines that get hits. This celebrity was so brave to come out and reveal one type of sexuality; that musician another. It’s become so frequent, so normal, that soon enough I suspect that it’s going to be a radical thing for a celebrity to come out as heterosexual. Here’s something about which the world doesn’t care, but we do: when we allow sex to become the source of our identity, we disgrace both the gift itself as well as the Giver. The thing is, we do the same – disgrace both the gift and the God who gives it – when in our misuse of it, we allow it to serve as an escape.

Perhaps what it is about the familiar account of David and Bathsheba which makes that most strikingly clear are the last words at the close of our verses today. “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Sam. 11:27). Let me ask you, do those words do little more for you than serve as a closing transition from the end of one account in Scripture to the beginning of the next? Do they serve as a closing statement for this section, or do they do more? Does it make your heart sink, almost as if your heart literally dropped from your chest to your stomach? Does it weigh heavily on you that someone whom God had raised up through the ranks from runt-of-the-litter shepherd boy to God’s chosen King would let down and displease the same God who had graciously placed him in that role?

Let’s shift from Saul’s successor to self and ask it another way: does it trouble us at all to think that what we do displeases the Lord? Does it crush our spirits? Does it at least prick our conscience? Does displeasing the Lord even register as a blip on our spiritual radar? How frequently do you find yourself judging not others, but yourself, on the basis of whether or not your words and actions displease the Lord? It’s rather easy for us to observe others or to sit in judgment of others when we know what they’re doing is displeasing the Lord, but do we apply the same standard to ourselves? Do we frequently – daily? – find ourselves generally guided by a genuine desire to do what pleases the Lord? And, if that desire is there, is it fear-based or faith-based? Do we want to do the right thing only because of a moral sense of right and wrong that knows better, or do we want to do the right thing and please the Lord because our love for and devotion to him drives that desire?

Here’s another way to think about it: if displeasing the Lord doesn’t at all trouble us, then that should be troubling. If we don’t even think about or care that our sinful misuse of his gift of sex displeases God, then we stand on dangerous ground. We are in a place that runs the risk of forfeiting the grace in which we stand and exchanging it for a license to treat sex not as the gift God intended, but as a right to be used as we insist. Used in that way, what was intended as a gift ends up ushering in guilt.

Suppose someone gives a gun as a gift to an avid hunter or a gun collector. That gun can certainly be utilized while hunting. It can be enjoyed at the shooting range. It can be a very thoughtful gift. But how do you suppose the giver of that gift would feel if that gun ended up being used in a school shooting or a murder? Absolutely dreadful. That wasn’t the intent behind the gift. It wasn’t supposed to be used for anything sinister or painful; it was intended to bring happiness and joy, to be the source of smiles, not sadness.

Can you imagine God feeling that way to see his precious gift, intended to bring happiness and joy to husbands and wives, being instead the source of so much pain and sorrow and hurt? When we treat this gift as an escape, that is inevitably what will happen. Damage instead of delight. Enslavement instead of enjoyment. Service to self instead of service to spouse. And the Giver of the gift is left reeling by how many different ways sin can stain his good and perfect gift. Sadly, there are countless ways to have an unhealthy relationship with the gift of sex when it ends up being treated as an escape (rape/abuse/pornography/homosexuality/pedophilia/sex trafficking/prostitution/etc.), that’s a whole lot of sin that’s possible! And each and every case ought to either convict us or concern us. When we see any of this in the world, we ought to be deeply concerned that such sin makes a mockery of one of God’s precious gifts. When we see any of this in our own lives, we ought to be deeply convicted that we’re contributing to the problem by both sinning against God and further destroying his reputation in this world. When we see this in our lives, then we must apply the same words to ourselves that the Bible did to David: “the thing we have done displeased the Lord.”

Let us go back then – not to David, but to David’s Son, Jesus Christ. While the thing David had done displeased the Lord, David’s Son achieved what David could not. God the Father verbalized it both at Jesus’ baptism and again at his Transfiguration. On each occasion, the Father said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17; 17:5). Jesus Christ accomplished what David could not: he perfectly pleased the Father – which he did not for himself, but for us. For you and for me. See how Jesus changes everything in regard to our relationship with God’s gift of sex! He lived to please the purity expected by God, and he died to pay the price for all of our acts that displeased God. We are covered. We are clean. We are free to see and embrace the positives of this wonderful gift from God – to enjoy the pleasure and deep connection it brings within marriage and to appreciate the blessing of children it provides.

That same freedom allows us to evaluate our view of this gift on a recurring basis. We do that by continuing to ask ourselves the same four questions regarding our relationship with sex. #1 – Can I go without it? #2 – Is this a topic I can discuss with a fellow Christian? #3 – Am I avoiding a long-term solution in favor of short-term satisfaction? #4 – Am I looking to creation for something that can only be provided by the Creator? Being willing to ask ourselves these four questions, coupled with the freedom we have in Christ, will help ensure that this wonderful blessing from God is not an empty escape by which we’re enslaved, but a treasured gift to be enjoyed.

Escape from Consumerism

August 17, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(1 Timothy 6:6-12, 17-19)

How much did you spend last month? How about last week? Yesterday? Some of us could probably provide an exact number, right down to the penny. Others have a pretty good general idea. Still others are clueless. This morning’s escape certainly includes managing money and spending, but it’s not limited to just that. If we’re going to see the value of this morning’s focus as we look at 1 Timothy, we have to be clear on what the real issue is. If we don’t pinpoint that, any one of us might end up concluding today’s message addresses an escape that really isn’t much of a problem for me. So as we continue looking at escapes to which turn for the real rest that only Jesus can provide, we want to be as clear as possible. Last week’s escape, chemical dependency, was rather straightforward. We talked about our relationship with drugs and alcohol and dug more into that topic in our small group discussion later in the week.

But how do we nail down today’s escape, which we’ve labeled as “consumerism?” Are we talking about our penchant for purchasing, our desire to shop and spend money? Or is this a greed issue that drives us to pursue more money and wealth? Or, do we need to take about an unhealthy obsession like hoarding and holding on to stuff unnecessarily? If we narrowed today’s topic down to any one of those categories or a number of others, then many of us would tune out, concluding that “I don’t care about getting rich,” or “I don’t even like shopping.”

So let’s summarize today’s theme and Paul’s words to Timothy in this way: our relationship with stuff. Every one of us has a relationship with stuff – the stuff we are inclined to throw out as being worthless, the stuff we hold on to that we can’t let go of, or the stuff we seek out when shopping – but we all have a relationship with stuff. And today we want to guard against becoming possessed by our possessions, against treating stuff as an escape, or looking to it for something it can never provide.

An indifferent or disinterested attitude toward the potentially destructive grip stuff can have on us simply ignores numerous warnings from Scripture. There’s a reason Jesus talked about money and possessions as much as he did. There’s a reason Paul is talking about money in a very candid manner with young pastor Timothy in the verses from 1 Timothy. And there’s a reason we need to talk about it today, too. Because we need to be reminded that the real problem with stuff isn’t actually the stuff at all: it’s rather how easily our hearts gravitate toward it. It’s how easily and subtly we put Jesus’ words from the Gospel to the test, as if we’re going to prove him wrong and show him that we actually can serve both God and money, that we can have it both ways (cf. Mt. 6:24). But no one has ever proved God wrong in that department, and you surely won’t be the first. So rather than pursuing that fruitless task, let us instead deal with the real problem and address our hearts.

Make no mistake, our relationship with stuff is an issue of the heart, a spiritual issue. Admittedly, however, we may struggle to see it as such. Why? Because of the way that stuff can make us feel, because of the rush we get when we purchase something. One author who’s consulted with Fortune 100 companies on the shopping habits of consumers contends that people don’t buy something because it’s necessary or even useful, but because of how it makes them feel. Some estimates suggest a 50% increase in online shopping during the pandemic. While certainly a good amount of that online shopping was because of limitations and restrictions to in-store shopping, there’s more to it. When so much of our lives were out of our control – online shopping provided a means by which we could still maintain some control. And it doesn’t matter who you are – male, female, young, or old – we all have different shopping patterns and have all experienced the same dopamine rush of “adding to cart” and “proceed[ing] to checkout” online or handing the cashier our CC or debit card after everything is rung up at the store. So the physical dopamine rush we experience when spending has a way of concealing whether or not a spiritual issue is the real concern. And the relationship we can have in general with certain material things – whether those items evoke fond memories of people or experiences – can cloud what can sometimes be an unhealthy attachment to things.

There is another feeling that drives us when it comes to clinging on to too much stuff or not buying enough stuff: a sense of loss. Our perception of stuff is that if we let go of it, then we experience loss. And, if we don’t buy something or fail to purchase it in time, we experience that same sense of loss by missing out.

That fear of loss is what makes Pauls’ words stand out. Do you catch the irony in Paul’s words in verse 6? “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (v.6). When it comes to stuff, particularly when we shop, we fear we’re losing out if we don’t get a great deal or get the newest, the latest, the greatest. When it comes to saving things, we fear we’ll lose something by pitching it or donating it or giving it away. But Paul says there is a way to experience not loss, but great gain without buying a thing! He calls godliness combined with contentment “gain.” How does one get more or gain something without spending a penny? What does that look like? We have to start somewhere, and often this first step can be the most difficult.

If you’ve ever taken a CPR class or been instructed in basic care, you know that when a person is bleeding, whether it’s a scrape, a laceration, or puncture wound, or some other injury that causes bleeding, the first step is always the same: stop the bleeding. But when it comes to overcoming consumerism as an unhealthy escape, long-term success can be a struggle because we never bother to stop the bleeding. We may establish some new habits – using a budget, actually planning our offerings, or looking for ways to be more generous – but we do these things while at the same time continuing to spend and sinking ourselves more deeply into debt. That’s like slicing your finger while cutting up something in the kitchen and deciding that going for a run will help. Yes, going on a run is good exercise, but it’s not going to do anything for your finger! So establishing good habits without stopping the shopping – without stopping the bleeding – won’t result in the great gain of godliness with contentment. And it isn’t just shopping; if I can’t sort through the possessions I’ve accumulated over time and let go of them bit by bit, I haven’t stopped the bleeding.

How do we decide how if this is a problem for us, or how challenging it may be for us to stop the bleeding and stop purchasing everything in sight? How do we determine if it’s really a spiritual problem that I have in hanging on to too much? We figure out what is behind these desires. What is driving them? To provide us with some more internal insight, let’s revisit the four questions posed last Sunday, the questions we want to keep coming back to as we seek to rein in our unhealthy escapes. #1 – Can I go without it? #2 – Is this a topic I can discuss with a fellow Christian? #3 – Am I avoiding a long-term solution in favor of short-term satisfaction? #4 – Am I looking to creation for something that can only be provided by the Creator? These questions help us expose if we have an unhealthy relationship with stuff.

We can also take the “if only” test. How would you complete this statement? “If only I had ___________, then I would be happy.” Now, whatever you’d fill that blank in with, I want you to imagine having it. Or, simply look back to the last time you did acquire that “if only” object. From that point on, consciously track how long it took or takes until the next “if only” pops up in your head. Because that’s the thing: another “if only” will always pop up. “If only” is a lie. “If only” is phony. Don’t fall for the phony “if only” when it comes to thinking stuff will ever satisfy!

Now then, once we stop the bleeding, whether that means cutting up our credit cards, disabling Amazon from all of our electronic devices, or simply sorting through things we’ve been hanging on to for too long, then we seek to replace that unhealthy escape with a healthy one. Paul provides us with a healthy escape in verse 12: “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Doesn’t it feel pretty foolish when you find yourself looking for your sunglasses, only to have someone point out they’re on your head, or to frantically looking everywhere for your car keys – the ones in either your hand, your pocket, or your purse? It feels downright foolish to be desperately searching for something that you already have!

So it is with eternal life. Why search, spend, shop for stuff that will never ever add up in worth to what you already have in Jesus: eternal life? Take hold of it. Embrace what is yours. Find real rest in what you already have, not in the pursuit of more stuff. How often over the course of a month, a week, or even a day, do you stop to ponder the reality of the gift of eternal life that right belongs to you in Christ? How often are you washed over with the always-refreshing newness of knowing your salvation is secure? There’s no sale you have to seek out, no great deal to stumble upon, no financing needed – not a penny from you; just the faith to receive what God offers free of charge. Put your wallets away. Keep your purses at home. Your life has already been purchased, your forgiveness paid for, and your eternity earned for you by Jesus – the same Jesus who has washed away your every greedy desire to find in consumerism what can only be found in Christ: true contentment. Take hold of the eternal rest that is yours right this very moment, and begin to experience what it feels like to have contentment wash over you.

Paul restates this healthy escape in another way in verse 17: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Put your hope in God. Wealth comes and goes, as does the enjoyment of it, but hope that is placed in God never disappoints.

And we show that our hope is in him as we seek to live out his guidance in verse 11: “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (v.11). Do you notice something about these pursuits? They cannot be bought. They cannot be purchased. But they can be pursued. And doing so is great gain, for the more of these we have, the more contentment becomes a natural byproduct of these qualities. And the more content we become, the less we need to turn to stuff as an escape; for contentment leads us to realize that we already have in Jesus what no possession or purchase can ever provide: real rest.

Escape from Chemical Dependency

August 15, 2021August 14, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Proverbs 23:29-35)

There is no vaccination that can protect you from tough times. We are not, nor will we ever be, immune to stress. We may have different triggers that set us off, different topics that test us, but trouble trails us from the day of our birth until our last day on earth. Our series for the next several weeks will challenge us to evaluate how we cope with trouble, how we handle hardship, where we are inclined to turn to help us deal with it. Where do we go when feel compelled to escape? Where do we turn when we are tired and need rest?

There are many healthy ways to cope or escape. Socializing with friends. Working out at the gym. Volunteering in the community. But the past 18 months have contributed to the problem by limiting the number of healthy ways we have countered rising stress levels. Socializing with friends to take our minds off the headlines has been limited. Closed gyms have limited physical activity to release stress naturally. In the process of not having our normal outlets to beat stress and decompress, many have turned to alternatives to cope.

But, rather than finding a healthy alternative by which to cope, some are much worse off now than they were before. That’s because unhealthy escape is a double whammy – not only does it NOT deal with or address the underlying problem; it actually ends up adding another problem to the mix. Imagine if you saw a drowning person struggling to keep their head above the water. If you could, you’d throw them a life preserver to cling to and rescue them. But turning to an unhealthy escape is like tossing a drowning person a rope with a cement block tied to it. Not only will it do nothing to help them; it will actually do more harm than good. It made a bad situation much worse! So it is when we turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms for escape or for rest that can truly only be found in one place: Jesus.

Let’s talk for a moment about how not to approach this series. Let me discourage you from ignoring it because you don’t think any of it will apply to you. Being too quick to jump to that conclusion may itself be a warning sign that a particular coping mechanism is a blindspot for you that you don’t even see. Also, this series is not being offered to puff up your pride because you may not have a particular weakness that someone else does. Nor is this series intended to equip you to become better at judging others, whether inside or outside the church. Instead, listen for two. Listen for yourself, being open to the possibility that you may have some unhealthy escapes in your life right now that need attention. But also listen for others who definitely do. Listen so that you better understand the struggles others are facing, and so that you are better equipped not to judge, but to jump in and help however you can.

To serve as a bit of a self-assessment throughout this series, here are four questions we’ll keep revisiting to guide us in possibly exposing some areas of concern we might want to address.

#1 – Can I go without it? This is a better question to ask than just asking yourself if your use of something is excessive. This is because quantity and amounts are subjective and every one of us is proficient at justifying just about any amount for any reason. But the real question should be can I do without it? Can I go without?

#2 – Is this a topic I can comfortably discuss with a fellow Christian? Am I able to share my struggle? If not, what does that say about the gravity of the situation? If it is something I am comfortable discussing, that may be the best evidence that this isn’t a problem area, or if it is, that you’re already in the process of seeking additional help to work through it. But if you can’t comfortably discuss it with a fellow Christian, why not? Is your inability to do so an indicator that you’re hiding a problem?

#3 – Am I avoiding a long-term solution in favor of short-term satisfaction? Would you stick with the same mechanic if you had to keep taking your car back to him after every time he worked on your car? If he was doing a good job of fixing the problem, you wouldn’t need to keep going back to him, right? So if whatever you turn to for escape is actually helping you overcome a problem, should you need to return to it more frequently or less? If I keep returning to it because the same problem persists, how effective is it in the long term? Have you become so attached to its short-term satisfaction that it has led you to stop caring about a long-term solution?

#4 – Am I looking to creation for something that can only be provided by the Creator? It might be a person. It might be a substance. It might be a place or an experience. Whatever it is, if I am placing on it the responsibility or the expectation of freeing me from my burdens and providing me with lasting fulfillment and satisfaction, I will be disappointed. The sooner we understand that about anything – about everything – the sooner we’re ready to look to Jesus for what only he can provide: real rest. We’ll revisit these four questions again this morning as we consider our first escape: chemical dependency.

To anyone who has ever had too much to drink, whether intentionally or not, the imagery provided in the verses from Proverbs this morning is rather obvious. The author is clearly describing what it’s like to be intoxicated, to be drunk. Does it surprise you to find such an accurate description in the Bible – to find such vivid imagery of a sin? It kind of catches one off guard, doesn’t it? We’re typically a little more comfortable simply naming the sin and forbidding it than we are going into detail about what it’s like. It’s one thing to read through an account in the Bible in which a sin takes place, and another to poetically paint the sin in such detail!

Moreover, the path by which we arrived at this candid description was itself a bit of an unexpected turn, wasn’t it? We’re drawn in by the first several questions and are quick to mentally shoot our hands up in the air: “I have woe. I have sorrow. I have strife. I have complaints.” We are sucked in by the completely relatable issues being raised, so that wherever the author is going, we’re listening.

Then the road begins to turn slightly: “Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?” (v.29b). “OK, I guess… are we talking about someone being beaten up now? Not getting enough sleep because of the degree of suffering? I’m still paying attention, but now I’m a little confused. Go on.”

“Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine” (v.30). And now we get it. The point being drawn out is that abusing alcohol brings about all of those things for which I had my hand up. It is the source of those woes, sorrows, strifes, complaints, and yes, the needless bruises and bloodshot eyes. The irony, of course, is that what wouldn’t shock us would be for someone experiencing woes, sorrows, strifes, or complaints to turn to a drink or two… or three or more as an escape. But the proverb isn’t condoning cocktails as a means of coping, but instead concludes that they are the cause of woe, sorrow, strife, or complaints. In other words, turning to alcohol as an escape from problems will itself only foment problems. What we turn to as a solution only compounds the problem.

We could at this point highlight all the destructive consequences that can result from chemical dependence, whether by drink or by drug. You already know how lives can so easily be ruined by such things. We could point to all those bad things and wrap up this message – and each successive message in this series – with a similar theme of “See – don’t do these bad things because they’ll mess up your life.” For some that would be enough.

But God is never as interested in your actions as he is in your attitude. And that’s the underlying issue. When we talk about chemical dependency and turning to drugs or drinking for escape, for rest, the heart is the real issue. So rather than wasting your time with that little back and forth dialogue in your head that goes something like this: “I don’t have a problem. I just like to relax once in a while with a drink or two. Just a little something to take the edge off of a stressful day. Just a little me time. I’m no alcoholic,” let’s evaluate our relationship with drinking or prescription/recreational/illegal drugs as a heart issue.

Let’s steer clear of extremes, pretending that the solution is found in simply prohibiting such things because of the damage they could cause. They aren’t inherently sinful (unless we’re talking about taking illegal substances, or if we’re underage, or if we’re disobeying parental rules) and can be enjoyed in moderation. So rather than resorting to the easy method of making everything black and white and pretending more rules will accomplish what only the gospel already has, let’s evaluate the relationship we have with such substances. After all, a person can still have an unhealthy relationship with certain substances without being an addict or alcoholic. How do we determine that? We look at our hearts.

Since I can’t see your heart and you can’t see mine, we have to personally wrestle with the questions I raised earlier to help provide us with an honest assessment of where we’re at.#1 – Ask if you can go without it. #2 – Is this a topic I can comfortably discuss with a fellow Christian? #3 – Am I avoiding a long-term solution in favor of short-term satisfaction? #4 – Am I looking to creation for something that can only be provided by the Creator?

Now all these questions can do is make real for us the possibility of a problem. What they don’t do, however, is address the solution. We often presume that a sterner preaching of the law is the solution to solving chemical dependency. It’s not. A better understanding of the gospel is. I’m free. I have in Christ what no chemical can cure or solve. Chemicals may temporarily numb my pain, but Jesus nullified my sin. I have a Savior who promised a permanent long-term solution that also offers short-term satisfaction.

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). Paul didn’t say, “Hey Christian, you need to or should crucify your flesh,” but that your flesh has already been crucified by virtue of Jesus’ crucifixion. Just as surely as he was nailed to the cross, so were your sins, and your sinful passions and desires along with them. There’s nothing for you to do other than to realize who you already are in Christ. And that isn’t an addict. It isn’t an alcoholic. It is a forgiven child of God.

That current status is not something you have to achieve. Your flesh has already been crucified with Christ, which means you have real power to put off that old passion and desire. If it’s been nailed to the cross, then it doesn’t own you or control you. You are free to say no, free to embrace your forgiveness, free to stop falling for the lies of chemical escape that always elude you. You have in Jesus real rest, real escape from real problems. And more of Christ, not chemicals, will fill you with real rest. So heed Paul’s advice to the Ephesians: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians. 5:18). There is no vaccination that can protect you from tough times. But there is salvation that can provide rest from them. Real rest. Escape that is eternal. Literally!

Don’t Lose Sight of the Source of your Strength

August 14, 2021August 14, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Judges 13-16)

Like me, I doubt many of you can remember what it was like to not be able to walk or ride a bike. When we grow or learn a new skill, it’s easy for us to forget what it was like before we knew how to carry it out. We can also then forget or overlook those who helped us learn or acquire that skill or ability.

As we wrap up our series on Samson, that’s one of the things we want to take into consideration. But we want to remember not just those in general who have helped us get to where we are today, but that ultimately it is always the Lord who provides us with what is needed to accomplish or achieve anything through us (and oftentimes in spite of us!).

We see that in Samson. But as we close out our series on Judges, let’s take moment to recap the takeaways from each of the judges God raised up. Amidst the recurring pattern of Israel spiraling into wickedness and being handed over to her enemies as a result, the cry to the Lord for deliverance – no matter how disingenuous or short-lived it was each time – was answered by God in unique ways. Through Deborah and Barak, God reminded us that his promises don’t need to be propped up – they stand on their own because he has made them. Through Gideon the Lord showed that he can do a lot with a little. In the shameful example of Abimelech we saw what happened when God was not a part of the plan. Using Jephthah, God led us to reflect on the ultimate turnaround story, that he can bring rescue through a reject. Where does Samson fit in with all of this? He reminds us not to lose sight of the source of our strength.

It’s really phenomenal when you think about it – how easily we swing from insecurity to overconfidence. Gideon displayed it. Remember how many times timid and insecure Gideon asked for a sign from the Lord to reassure him? Then, when all was said and done, insecure Gideon became too-secure-in-self Gideon and allowed an idol to become a snare. He wrestled with insecurity, but after the Lord worked out a divinely decisive victory against the Midianites, Gideon suddenly found himself looking in the mirror instead of to the Lord.

We’ve been there. It starts out as a source of insecurity or weakness. Then, as we give attention to it, as we work on it, as we develop it or overcome it, it actually becomes a strength. At one point the sheer thought of speaking in front of even a few people was mortifying, but you’d never know it when you listen to the polished public speaker give a TED talk. The athlete who couldn’t even make the cut for the high school team ends up as one of the most successful to ever compete in the sport. He was a college dropout who went on to start up his own company and earn millions. We’ve heard all kinds of such stories – they are a dime a dozen. And if even on some smaller scale, we’ve likely experienced something similar that resulted in success later on.

The problem, though, is that in the midst of all of our hard work and our commitment and our success, we quickly gloss over the fact that it was God who granted it all, that He was and is the source of our strength and that only with his blessing could we have achieved any of it! It’s not unlike the mom or dad hiking up a mountain trail with their small child strapped in on their back. They make it up to the top, where the child excitedly announces, “I did it!” Mom or dad did all of the work, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to the child’s self-proclaimed achievement.

The apostle Paul points out the absurdity of such a claim when he asks the rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” All that we are, all that we have, all that we achieve, is from God! Yet, like the little child carried to the top of the mountain, we are so quick to celebrate what “we” just did!

And it isn’t just a matter of spiritual amnesia, of forgetting to give glory to God by acknowledging him and thanking him for our growth, but it also leads us to look differently at others whose present situation might be exactly where our past situation was. How quickly we forget that we were once there and how impatient we become when they don’t exhibit the same strength that we now have! We don’t say it out loud, but we think to ourselves, “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen them at church, and it’s not because I’m the one who hasn’t been here every Sunday…” We might even express shock or surprise that someone else struggles with a particular sin that hasn’t troubled us for some time. We feel pretty good about our marriage as we look at others struggling to keep it together, forgetting that we’ve had more than our share of challenges, too. A weakness turns to a strength, and we arrogantly credit ourselves with the turnaround, rather than remembering that God is the one who worked it. We flex our own muscle instead of pointing to our Savior’s strength.

Samson had gotten used to it. The Lord had endowed him with the strength of a superhero, and he had gotten used to it. It was his identity. He was the strong man, feared by the Philistines. So easily had he forgotten the source of his strength – the Lord. And so easily did he stumble when faced with his weakness: women. Twice, a combination of his attraction to the opposite sex and his self-confidence instead of his God-confidence resulted in Samson letting his guard down. The first time it led him to leak the answer to a riddle that eventually found its way to his enemies. The second time was a much costlier mistake – resulting in his hair being cut and being taken captive and having his eyes gouged out by his enemies. Had Samson more readily remembered the Lord and not been so quick to rest on his own laurels, perhaps he would have been more guarded in each case and not ended up being taken advantage of.

But here’s the remarkable thing about God – he used Samson anyway! In both instances, it was the Philistines who ended up on the receiving end of the Lord’s wrath through Samson. At this point in the book of Judges, it shouldn’t surprise us at all that God still manages to carry out his work of deliverance through flawed individuals – it’s what we’ve seen again and again from him. So then, even when the individual fails to give glory to God, or at least is slow to do so, God doesn’t necessarily give him the pink slip and call on his HR team to hire someone else more worthy. God even uses those who forget to give him the credit to accomplish what he desires.

He still does today. God has used and will continue to use the secular world to serve his sanctified purposes. While the secular world won’t acknowledge God’s strength, that doesn’t keep God from using it to bless his people. He can do it through governments, through institutions and organizations, through relationships, through resources, etc. – all to serve his people and his kingdom. Through the world he shows his strength, even though the world doesn’t acknowledge him.

And through the Church, too, he shows his strength… or should we say in spite of the Church? The pastor refers to his church, as if he’s the one who built it. Church members refer to pastor so-and-so’s church, as if to overlook that God placed that pastor into that ministry. Christian leaders point to what they’ve achieved by this ministry plan or taking that approach, neglecting to credit God with the one doing all the work and blessing it with success.

The Lord is the source of our strength, and you know where he shows it best? In his Word and sacraments, where he pronounces forgiveness to Samson-like sinners who miserably fail again and again when leaning on their own strength. When our puffed-up pride is exposed and blown apart like a straw house, Jesus is there to pick up the pieces again and again with the mighty strength of salvation and forgiveness. It’s not in his polished six-pack abs – but in absolution – where God displays his muscle. Grace – not gold medals – is how God shows greatness. Forgiveness – not flexing – is how God demonstrates his strength.

Samson was set apart by God from birth, but he failed to grow much at all in his faith by seeing the Lord as the source of his strength. He lost sight of the source of his strength. It wasn’t until the day of his death that he recognized it and in repentance humbly asked the Lord to grant him the strength for one final strike against the Philistines. God granted his request, and as the columns collapsed under Samson’s God-given brute strength, he ended up killing more Philistines by his own death than he did altogether during his life.

Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t wait until your dying day to tap into the tools God gives you to maximize his strength. They’re at your disposal right now, every Sunday in worship, every day in the Word, every other week in the Sacrament. Let him strengthen you. Let God show you what he can do through his Church when we rely not on our own sham strength, but on the strength of our Savior and his salvation. We may not remember what it was like to not be able to walk or ride a bike, but let’s never forget that the Lord is – and always will be – the source of our strength.

Rescued by a Reject

August 14, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Judges 11:1-14, 27-40)

Would you have done it? Would you have answered the call when they came pleading for you to come to their rescue? Or would you have stewed and ruminated on their words of rejection for so long that you couldn’t bring yourself to do it? Remember, these were the ones who coldly cast you out, rejecting you with the words, “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family, because you are the son of another woman” (Judges 11:2). It wasn’t your fault that dad had slept with a prostitute and you were the result, but it didn’t matter; they had rejected you. But now they were requesting you, begging you, needing you to come to their aid when under attack from the Ammonites. “Come, be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites” (v.6). Would you have done it?

By now we’re used to some unique details and stories surrounding the judges the Lord has raised up for his people. Jephthah is no exception. What stands out most are two things: 1) he was rejected, only to later be requested for a rescue mission from the very folks who rejected him, and 2) he made – and carried out – a vow that not only tugs at our hearts, but also leaves us scratching our heads. Yet there is also something Jephthah has in common with the previous judges God raised up to rescue his people, which stands out because of its general absence among God’s people: Jephthah’s relationship with the Lord. Before even accepting the invitation to lead the battle against the Ammonites, he acknowledged that any victory would be because the Lord gave it (v.9). He then made it a point to show his dedication to the Lord in official capacity at Mizpah (v.11). In his message to the king of the Ammonites, he had recalled the background of how the Lord had led and directed his people to the land where they presently were (vs. 15-26). Finally, the vow he made to make a burnt offering to the Lord, although it ended tragically, was a type of sacrifice that Israelites would offer up to show their commitment and dedication to the Lord, which was sadly such a rare sight during these times of Israel’s history.

As the account unfolds and we see how Jephthah responds to the pleas for deliverance, it gives us opportunity to consider our own actions in the face of rejection. We’ve all experienced it to some degree. It may have been the sting of being the last pick on the playground, where no one actually chose you, but they were stuck with you. It may have been a relationship in which you were rejected in favor of someone else. Your input was rejected for an upcoming project at work, and so you weren’t part of that team. You never felt – and maybe still don’t! – like you were good enough for one or both of your parents.

But then something changed, either in their situation or yours, that resulted in a second opportunity. Now the ones who were so quick to dismiss you are the same ones who need you. The temptation is there, isn’t it – it would feel so good to get them back, to leave them high and dry and get even by turning the tables and telling them to go take a long walk off a short pier. “If I wasn’t good enough then, don’t come groveling to me now – go find someone else.” We relish the idea of seeing them get their just desserts.

We don’t, however, see that in Jephthah. Yes, he does initially remind them that they had turned him away in the past, but that was as much to convict them as it was to puff himself up. He didn’t let his own pride stand in the way of serving the greater good, and more importantly, his great God, by coming to the rescue of his people. He went and he seized the opportunity to show the Israelites what is possible when the spotlight is rightly restored on the only One who deserves it – the Lord.

Shame on us for the times we’ve let bitterness or pride keep us from serving someone else. How embarrassing that as God’s representatives, we have let resentment or the desire to get back at others get in the way of the greater good. We are so quick to accept God’s grace and forgiveness, his willingness to serve us no matter how many times we have rejected him by our sinful choices. But when we have opportunity to model the same spirit toward others, the stubborn, scorned sinner shows through instead of the grateful child of God who has been washed and forgiven and set apart for such acts of love and service!

And though the parallel is not explicitly drawn in Scripture, it is virtually impossible to consider Jephthah’s rejection and then rescue without seeing at least some reflection of Jesus’ rejection and rescue. We note how many times he gave his disciples the heads up that the Son of Man would be rejected, then suffer and die. But that very rejection was a part of the process of our redemption, our rescue. We, too, were rescued by a reject. Jesus was chosen by his Father to carry out our salvation, but the world rejected him. Nonetheless, in the way that only the divine hand of God can, he worked rescue through that rejection. He did that for you and for me, to forgive the ones who had rejected him, who have rejected others, and who have let pride rob us of loving service to others in the name of getting even or letting others get what we think they deserve. For such despicable thoughts and attitudes, Jesus was rejected. From such despicable thoughts and attitudes, we have been rescued. Not being held back by our own pride, we are now free to serve as Jephthah did, with the strength the Lord provides.

Jephthah was not a hothead. He attempted to work through Israel’s situation with the Ammonites using diplomacy. The in-between verses that were cut out of today’s reading are the extended version of the message he had sent to the king of Ammon, attempting to very diplomatically address the concern he had over who possessed which land. When the king of Ammon made it clear that his mind was made up and there was no room for diplomacy, Jephthah led the Israelites to war. Those details, compared to the accounts provided in the instances of previous judges, are relatively short and sweet. “Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon” (vs.32-33).

Much more detail is provided regarding the troubling issue of Jephthah’s vow that preceded his success on the battlefield. “And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering” (vs.30-31). While we can appreciate Jephthah’s commitment to the Lord, making such a vow – not knowing what he was promising – wasn’t his finest moment. We may have though nothing of it if an animal had greeted him, but it was no animal; instead, Jephthah’s daughter happened to be the one who came out the door to greet him at his triumphant return.

There are two plausible possibilities that have been put forth to explain how Jephthah’s vow was carried out: 1) he sacrificed her as a burnt offering, which is the simplest and most straight-forward understanding of the text, and certainly the more troubling one, or 2) he dedicated his daughter to the Lord as a life-long virgin. There are far too many points and counterpoints in support of each view than can be discussed in a single sermon, many of them holding significant merit. While we would wish to hold up Jephthah in highest esteem, making preferable any plausible explanation that would allow us to avoid an ugly reality of a man of God sacrificing his own daughter to fulfill his vow, we don’t need Jephthah to have a pristine record before God – even if he is listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Why? Because God doesn’t need spotless individuals to pass a sanctification background check in order to use them for his purposes; God has always used flawed men to carry out his purposes. This ensures that no judge, but rather God himself, always remains the hero of the story. God is so determined to rescue, to deliver, that not even a flawed individual is going to keep him from carrying out his work.

And though Scripture doesn’t explicitly direct us to make this comparison, how can a story about a father sacrificing his only child not direct our thoughts to THE Father sacrificing his own child to fulfill another vow, a promise of salvation and forgiveness for all people? There is a place for digging more deeply into this particular matter of Jephthah’s vow, but may it never overshadow or distract us from the promise fulfilled by the Lord when he gave up his own Son. Amidst the uncertainty of a vow in this account is the certainty of our salvation. We have a Savior who didn’t bear a grudge or resent those who rejected him. Instead, he rescued us.

As you consider this truth, do you have any lingering grudges or resentments against those who have rejected you? Is there any bitterness to which you are clinging? Compare your bitterness toward someone else with how Jesus has chosen to treat you. Let go of your bitterness, resentment, and grudges. Lavish on others the same love and forgiveness that your Savior has lavished on you. Amen.

When God’s Not Part of the Plan

July 24, 2021July 22, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Judges 9:1-25, 46-57)

I wasn’t planning on leading a group of 50 hikers to the top of Mt. San Gorgonio (11,500 elev.) this past week at Good Shepherd Bible Camp, but that’s what ended up happening. In hindsight, one of the biggest takeaways for me was the importance of planning. Making sure everyone stays in their group, has enough water and snacks, and knows what to expect is hugely important.

As we continue our series in the book of Judges this morning, we also see how important planning is. Actually, not just planning in general, but planning that involves God. Or, as in the case this morning, what it looks like when God’s not part of the plan.

Previously in our series on the book of Judges, the Lord spoke to Deborah. The Lord also came directly to Gideon. Today, we see that the Lord did not come to Abimelech; neither did Abimelech seek out the Lord. And, while the time of the Judges can in general be characterized as a spiritual dumpster fire for the Israelites, Abimelech takes us to a new low. As we look at his particular cycle of the downward spiral of Judges, he shows us quite clearly what happens when God’s not part of the plan.

Before we go any further, we have to address this reality: sometimes non-believers have it really good in life. Maybe that’s no news flash to anyone here, but we need to acknowledge and understand that so we don’t walk away this morning with the wrong idea that so long as God is in the picture, then life is a dream; if he’s not, then it’s a nightmare. It just isn’t true! Some non-believers have a fantastic life and many believers have one burden to bear after another. Why doesn’t God make life more miserable for the non-believer? There are two different ways he can use an abundance of earthly blessings for his eternal purposes. In one case he might desire that his kindness and generosity lead the non-believer to repentance (cf. Romans 2:4). He might also use an abundance of worldly blessings to lead the non-believer that much sooner to the conclusion that worldly wealth without the Lord is ultimately meaningless (cf. Ecclesiastes). So even when he’s good to the non-believer, his goal is still very much an eternal one that has the concern of souls as its focus.

For you and me, then – for believers, God shows us what is a general truth in the life of the Christian, based on a real promise that Jesus made in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In worldly terms, God’s generous goodness can shower non-believer or believer alike. But only a God-centered life will yield spiritual blessings and joys that can simply never be experienced when God’s not part of the plan.

In Abimelech’s case, things got off to a selfish start. There is a noticeable distinction between this account and the two judges we have looked at previously. In each of their cases, God was a part of the dialogue with Deborah and Gideon. But he is nowhere to be found in Abimelech’s case – except when being rebuked by someone else. Abimelech wasn’t concerned about God’s wishes or will for his life – he wanted power, and he had a plan for how to secure it. With a little political prowess, he convinced the people of Shechem that they’d be better off being ruled by just one ruler – him – than some sort of divided rulership made up of his 70 brothers. Furthermore, since his mother was Gideon’s concubine from Shechem, he appealed to flesh and blood – he was one of their own! He went to the people and said, “Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man? Remember, I am your flesh and blood” (Judges 9:2). Abimelech’s plan was not guided by God in any way whatsoever – he got off to a purely selfish start.

How many times have we been stumped at that stage – the very beginning – because we, too, were far more interested in pursuing our plans rather than seeking God’s counsel on what he would have us do? Simply because we have faith in Jesus does not mean that it’s a given that we seek God’s guidance. A person may have saving faith in Jesus that ensures them a home in heaven, while also largely ignoring God’s guidance or direction for the better part of life. It may not be a matter of not knowing what God would have them do in a situation, but a consistent failure to actually act on that, to intentionally align their life with God’s guidance and direction. So while they see Jesus as Savior, he’s often left at the kiddie table when significant life decisions are being made. When a Christian considers a job offer or relocation opportunity without giving thought to the proximity of our nearest church, how much was God really a part of that plan? When I choose words or actions that dishonor God for the sake of my own popularity or attention, is God really a part of that thought process? When in general our approach is to plan first, then pray second and seek God’s blessings on our plans after we’ve decided what we want to do, is God really a part of those plans, or are we simply treating him like the stamp of approval we’d appreciate in order to move forward with our plans?

Look at the result of Abimelech’s failure to include God in his plans. His selfish start resulted in godless gain. The citizens of Shechem pledged their allegiance to him with their checkbooks. What did Abimelech do with the money? “They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers” (v.4). He hired thugs. He assembled a gang. It wasn’t as if Abimelech’s fine reputation had earned followers genuinely or that soldiers would be willing to valiantly die an honorable death for him. No, he paid punks to push people around.

And that’s exactly what they did. But it wasn’t just bullying or scare tactics that he had his men carry out; he authorized them to murder his own flesh and blood. At his dad’s house no less, he turned a stone into a slaughterhouse where he put to death almost all of his brothers. Only Jotham, Gideon’s youngest son and Abimelech’s youngest brother, escaped.

Ever notice how things rather quickly go from bad to worse when we do them our own way and God’s not part of the plan? Abimelech had established himself as a commander of criminals who had committed murder. After that, his little brother who had escaped his execution efforts proclaimed a pronouncement of judgment on him. We notice something else about Jotham’s prophecy against Abimelech: it’s the first time God is mentioned in the account. What Jotham essentially prophesies is that each of the parties involved in this whole shameful account – Abimelech and the people of Shechem who supported his rise to power – would get burned by each other. And that was exactly what happened. God turned the people of Shechem against Abimelech and they ended up throwing their support behind an adversary, Gaal, who was happy to bad-mouth Abimelech and welcome his dissenters (read through verses 26-45 of Judges 9 for those details). Long story short, Abimelech squashed Gaal and his men, forcing the people of Shechem to secure themselves inside the tower of the very same temple from which they first withdrew their financial support for Abimelech. There, trapped inside the tower, Abimelech burned alive a thousand men and women. But as he pressed on to the next city, where he encountered more citizens secured inside a tower, a woman lifted a millstone over the edge of the tower and cracked Abimelech’s skull, ultimately resulting in his death.

Has it happened that way for you? Perhaps not to the extent of how it ended for Abimelech, but have you experienced things going from bad to worse when God was left out of the plans? A job offer or relocation that didn’t consider the location of a new church family results in at least a season – prayerfully not an eternity! – of drifting away from God. A greater concern over what others think of me than honoring God with words and actions results in sin becoming less black and white and more in the gray area as I justify my choices. I make my plans and then pray for God to bless them instead of praying for God to guide my process of planning in the first place and wonder why things seldom seem to work out the way I had hoped. Things can quickly, or sometimes even worse – very gradually – go from bad to worse when God’s not part of the plan. Abimelech’s story may hit frightfully close to home if we go the same route.

The fact that it hasn’t already, and that we can learn from this account in Judges, is a testament of how desperately God works behind the scenes to keep you as his own, even when we have allowed him to become an afterthought. This is grace: even when God’s not part of our plans, we’re always a part of his. Think of how often we include others in something with the expectation that they’ll do the same for us. We give someone a Christmas card only because we got one from them, or just to see if they’ll send one to us if we send one to them. We operate under the assumption that others will reciprocate our thoughtfulness when we include them. God didn’t wait for us to include him in our plans, but included us in his from eternity. From eternity, his plan of forgiveness and salvation included you, and nothing you can do will compel him to alter or change his plans. Jesus came on the scene to secure God’s plan for you.

Abimelech raised himself up. Your Savior lowered himself. Abimelech appealed to flesh and blood to garner support. Jesus became flesh and spilled his blood to show you his love. And still today he gives his own flesh and blood for you in the Supper. Jesus was everything that Abimelech was not. Jesus was everything that you and I are not. No one in the world will ever devise a greater plan than God’s plan to save, a plan that included you. Your eternity is secure because his plan included you. Do you think it might be beneficial if more of your plans include him?

God Can Do a Lot with a Little

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Judges 6:33-7:25)

450 to 1. That’s how outnumbered Gideon’s 300 soldiers were. An army of 135,000 vs. an army of 300 (if you can call 300 soldiers an army!). There is not a military strategist in history who would go to battle with those odds. There is no plan that could be devised that would see 300 soldiers victorious against 135,000 – especially in the days predating all the technology and weapons we have today to fight wars with – when hand-to-hand combat was how battle was carried out. No one in his right mind would take those odds, that chance, and willingly initiate any sort of engagement when the deck is that stacked against you.

But you know what? God can do a lot with a little. He makes that abundantly clear as we focus on the next judge in our series, Gideon.

Before we dig more into the story of Gideon, in order for today’s takeaway to sink in, I want to take a few moments to consider where you might need this reminder that God can do a lot with a little. There are so many areas in our lives that are filled with too little, with not enough – so many areas that are inadequate or insufficient. Or at least that’s the way we allow ourselves to think. Where do you think you are too little, or you have too little, or are lacking in one way or another? Now ask this question: do you really have too little in these areas of your life, or is the real issue that you think too little of God to be able to do anything with it? May our time exploring God’s goodness to Gideon this morning change not only your mind, but the way you think about God and what he is capable of.

Look what God had to work with in the case of Gideon. He started with a nobody. When the Lord came to Gideon, he wasn’t decked out in imposing armor preparing to lead an army into a glorious victory on the battlefield. He wasn’t seated on a throne in kingly fashion in some palace somewhere. No, he was threshing wheat, and not even in the normal fashion, but as inconspicuously as possible – he was hidden in a winepress so as not to alert the Midianites. He was nothing more than a common man carrying out manual labor. That’s when the Lord addressed him. “The LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’ ‘But Lord,’ Gideon asked, ‘how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family’” (Judges 6:14-15). Gideon didn’t see himself as being up to the task. His view of self was so low that he could not imagine God using him for such a monumental task! Sound familiar? Remember when the Lord came to Moses to send him to save Israel from Pharaoh’s hand? His response was similar: “Who am I?” (Ex. 3:11). Gideon wasn’t the first time the Lord used a nobody to get things done, and he won’t be the last.

Can you relate to Gideon? You can. You have. Throughout different stages of life we all struggle with the same feelings of inferiority or being unqualified. “I’m not ready to make the jump to high school. I’m not actually good enough to do the job for which I just got hired. I’m not qualified to be a parent to a newborn – I have no idea what I’m doing. I can’t make this marriage work. I can’t care for my aging parents. I can’t be a leader in my church.” We echo the same refrain that Moses and Gideon echoed: “How can I do this? Who am I?” Do you know why that’s so natural for us to think that way?

Because it’s true. When God started with you, he started with a nobody. Actually it was worse than that. A nobody would have been neutral, indifferent, happy to just remain anonymous. But by nature you came into this world as God’s enemy. The sin you were born in set you against God from the start. His perfect holiness doesn’t sit well with sinners. So we oppose him. We despise him. We guard our sin. We defend our sin. We don’t need him telling us it’s wrong today. If nothing changes, we remain on that same path of opposition to God the rest of our lives.

But you’re here because something did change. You did, because God changed you. God took you, his enemy – a nobody, and washed you clean with Jesus’ blood. The very God we despised by nature is the gracious God who made us more precious in his eyes than we could ever have made ourselves. Grace and forgiveness transform nobodies into somebodies in God’s eyes. Without sin as a barrier between you and God, he sees you as he made you to be: perfect, righteous, and ready. Ready for him to use you as he sees fit. Ready to be sent for his purposes. God can do a lot with a little. You are the proof. You weren’t much. But now you are everything to him. He would die for you. He did die for you.

Speaking of doing a lot with a little, kind of sounds like how the Lord carried all of this out, doesn’t it? God made a powerful demonstration of that through Jesus in general. A lot with a little. A little child. Born in little Bethlehem. A little cross outside Jerusalem. One man, not a nobody by any stretch of the imagination, but the God-man, Jesus, put to death on it. Yet through this one crucifixion, this one little death on Good Friday, a cataclysmic event unfolded. Hell lost its hold. And on Easter morning, as the empty tomb opened up, so did heaven, ready to welcome every nobody made a somebody through faith in the Savior, Jesus.

God can do a lot with a little. Jesus made a powerful demonstration of that in our Gospel today as he fed thousands with a little. He had previously turned out the best wine ever tasted at a wedding in Cana, only needing a little water to do so.

So let us bring it back to Gideon. Could God do a lot with a little? You already know the answer, but it’s as if God wanted to underscore it in the way he weeded out Gideon’s fighting force. He started with 32,000, but that was too many in God’s opinion, for he was concerned about Israel boasting that its victory was a result of its own strength (7:2-3). So he had Gideon dismiss 22,000 who were afraid to fight and allowed them to return home. That left 10,000 soldiers, but God wasn’t done weeding them out yet. He then had the remaining men get down for a drink of water, and from the different ways they drank water, he sorted them out so that just 300 men remained. That was how God wanted to demonstrate that he could do a lot with a little.

But what of Gideon’s doubt, you ask? What about his insistence on a handful of signs? There are of course instances in Scripture in which the demand on the part of God’s people for a sign stems from outright doubt. This does not appear to be one of them. No, in this case, Gideon was simply well aware of his own insufficiencies. He wasn’t questioning anything on God’s end; he was questioning himself. So he asked God to let him know that he was sure he had the right guy for the job, a nobody like Gideon.

What does this say to your doubts? Do you have a rather low opinion of yourself like Gideon? Or perhaps your view of yourself is is on the other end of the spectrum – rather inflated? Finally, let’s confess that sin of thinking of self too much and leave it behind and instead deal with the real issue: the question of what we think of God? What is God able to do? The answer is, anything. Anything. There is nothing he cannot do. Now I don’t know if we have kind of forgotten that or if the common “science-backed” refrain we hear everywhere today has eaten away at our confidence that God actually can do anything, but it remains true. God can do anything. And, God can do anything with anyone.

That includes you. So go back and revisit those areas of life in which you think or you have too little, those areas where you’re convinced that nothing’s ever going to change or improve because you just don’t measure up. If God – not Gideon, but God – can use 300 men to topple an army of 135,000, is God able to change or improve that area of life where there’s too little, where you’re too little? Absolutely. If you struggle to believe it, then it’s because your confidence is misplaced. You think too little of yourself. You don’t think you can do it. You think you’re not enough. Stop limiting what God can do by wrongly thinking you’re the one doing it! It’s not you. It’s not going to be you. It’s going to be God, always the Lord, who can do a lot – so much more than you could imagine! – with a little.

Stop thinking you’re too old. Stop thinking you’re too young. Stop thinking you’re not smart enough. Stop thinking you’re not spiritual enough. Stop thinking you’re not experienced enough. Stop. Thinking. About. Yourself. Let those who think like this belong to the world. Let the Church instead be filled with bold believers whose confidence rests 100% in a good, gracious God who can do anything with anyone.

God’s Promises Don’t Need to Be Propped Up

July 22, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(Judges 4)

How soon do you suppose your next flight would be able to take off if, after accelerating for a few seconds, the pilot repeatedly had to slow down for something on the runway? How likely do you think an Olympic long-jumper is to take home a medal if keeps slowing down and speeding up as he approaches his jump? Neither the pilot nor the long-jumper are going to have much success, are they? There are just some things in life that simply require a measure of momentum in order to achieve success. Without that momentum, certain limitations can’t be broken; we get stuck.

Has your spiritual life ever felt like that? Or, maybe your spiritual life has only felt like that! We start, then slow down, then maybe stop, then start up again, but the only result we ever seem to achieve is that we end up getting stuck. Or backsliding. But any progress seems to be short-lived. Either we take our foot off the gas and slip into complacency, or sin abruptly steals our momentum. How do we break the cycle? How do we get unstuck? Enter the time of Judges.

You want to see what it looks like to get stuck, to get caught up in an unhealthy cycle that gets progressively worse, spiraling downward like dirty bathwater circling the drain? Look at the 300-350 year period after Moses and Joshua, before any kings were ever established in Israel, and you see the same pattern repeated: rebellion, regret, and rescue. The Israelites would turn away from God in favor of the surrounding pagan worship and customs. Oppression from those pagan nations would ensue, resulting in the Israelites calling out to the Lord in desperation for deliverance. God would raise up a judge and rescue, and the whole cycle would repeat itself again and again for over 300 years. As we study several key judges over the next several weeks in this series, we want to take note of key takeaways that each judge provides to help us get unstuck and break the cycle, so that we can finally make the progress we’ve wanted in our spiritual lives.

The book of Judges begins on a high note: “After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD,…” (1:1). Joshua had led them well! When they needed direction, they knew to seek out the Lord, and so they asked him how to proceed in securing the land he had promised them. Unfortunately, they failed to act in the same confident faith that was a staple of Joshua’s leadership, and so the whole rest of the first chapter of Judges – and essentially the snare that would plague Israel throughout this period of history and up to and through the age of kings – was this: they failed to completely drive out the enemy. Again and again the refrain is the same: each tribe would advance, fight, get comfortable with their success, but then fail to completely drive out their enemies.

The Lord made clear to them the long-term damage that would result. “‘You shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive [your enemies] out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you” (2:2-3). So it comes as no surprise the tragedy that results shortly thereafter. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (2:10). Think it doesn’t matter when we treat our religion, our Christian faith, our relationship with God, like a spare tire? When we allow it to remain nothing more than something that is accessible to us only when absolutely needed in extreme situations, this is what happens. And let’s embrace the sad reality: this is what is currently happening right now in the church.

Notice I said “church.” It would have been an easier pill to swallow if I had said “in our country,” right? Because that doesn’t sting as much. It depresses us, sure. It frustrates us, definitely. But it also easily allows us to pass the buck and blame everyone else for the direction we’re going. But we’re the ones – you and me – who are guilty of repeating the same deadly cycle that is blatantly obvious throughout the time of Judges. We start out on the high note, seeking out the LORD, but then we either don’t bother to obey what he says, or only partially so, we get caught up in one sinful snare after another, and wonder how things got so bad and how the next generation seems so hopeless. It’s our fault! So do we want to keep repeating the cycle, or do we wish to actually do something about it and break the cycle? Then let’s commit not just to learning the lessons that the book of Judges teaches us, but actually living them, applying them, and putting them into action. Let’s lean on God’s power to equip us to break the cycle and not settle, but strengthen ourselves and the next generation of believers.

The first lesson God teaches us in our Judges series is that his promises don’t need any human help to bolster them up and make them more believable. God’s promises need no human intervention to validate them or make them more palatable. We take God at his word because it is God’s Word.

As we look at chapter four, already we see the cycle repeating. God had already delivered his people through the previous judge, Ehud. He provided them relief from oppression, but with that rest and relief they also became relaxed spiritually, and not in a good way. “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Sisera, the commander of his army, was based in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help” (Judges 4:1-3). Sisera and his iron-reinforced chariots were wreaking havoc on the Israelites. The advantage he had would be like an army of infantry today going up against a tank battalion – no contest. God, however, would turn the tables on Sisera and Israel’s enemies by showing that opposing him would yield the same result – no contest.

He spoke through his representative, Deborah, to reveal how he would bring about deliverance and rescue his people. Who was Deborah? We’re told she was leading Israel at the time. She was a prophet recognized by Israel as being gifted with discernment to provide counsel and direction and settle disputes as they arose. Remember this was the time before the monarchy had been established, before Israel had begged to be like other nations and have its own kings. And it was after God had appointed a permanent leaders like Moses and Joshua to lead his people with the specific purpose of guiding them out of Egypt into the promised land. For this time, God saw fit to lead his people through these individual judges, and Deborah was one of them.

She showed herself to be an exceptional leader, even more so because of the obvious contrast from Barak, the man called to lead the Israelites into battle. If we wonder why, in a primarily patriarchal culture and Bible history in general, a woman (Deborah) was leading, perhaps Barak’s hesitancy to follow God’s direction demonstrates the answer for us. When the Lord had revealed through Deborah that he planned to give Sisera and his army into Barak’s hands, hear again how Barak responded: “Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go’” (v.8). Deborah rightly pointed out that her command had come right from the top, right from the Lord himself, who had promised victory! But God’s direct promise alone wasn’t enough for Barak; he required human intervention. He needed the assurance that Deborah would accompany him.

Think of how backwards that is! How often don’t we find ourselves in a situation that leads us to the conclusion, “Only a miracle will save us now,” or “only divine intervention will change this outcome”? Yet divine intervention is exactly what the Lord promised to Barak, and it wasn’t enough. He thought that he needed an additional confidence booster from a human being. It should have been the other way around! Barak should have told Deborah to sit tight and that he’d be right back, because the Lord had already guaranteed that victory was a done deal!

Wouldn’t we all like to have a little more Deborah and a little less Barak in each of us? We have a Bible stacked with God’s promises of intervention on behalf of his people, yet we insist on worldly confidence boosters before acting on those promises by faith. The Lord promises to watch over our coming and going, but it takes the confidence booster of a clean bill of health from the doctor for me to believe it. Jesus reminds us that since he dresses the flowers and feeds the birds, we don’t need to lose any sleep over his ability to provide for our needs. But it takes the confidence booster of a steady job and income and to put my mind at ease. God promises that forgiveness and heaven are his free gifts only by grace, only through faith, but I am easily deceived by the false confidence booster that I’ve been a pretty good person to really reassure me.

We have it backwards! God’s Word is enough. God’s promises are enough. How can some earthly factor or some worldly circumstance add any value whatsoever to what God himself has declared? It can’t. Nothing can. Barak needed Deborah’s assurance for God’s promise of deliverance to be more believable. God forgive us for every time we need some added assurance for God’s promise of deliverance to be more believable!

But God delivers anyway, despite our doubt, just as he did for Barak and the Israelites. “At Barak’s advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera’s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left” (v.15-16). Not a man was left! How does an army of foot soldiers not just scrape by, but completely wipe out a superior fighting force of state-of-the-art chariots? God intervenes, and emphatically at that! Read the praise song of victory in the next chapter and discover that divine intervention definitely played a role! The very plain in the valley that Sisera thought would give his chariots an advantage became his undoing when roaring waters rendered them useless (cf. 5:21)! And though Sisera was able to escape Barak’s sword, he could not escape the Lord, who humbled Barak by allowing a woman, Jael, to fearlessly finish him off.

As he did Barak, God may choose to humble us for requiring additional confidence boosters to trust in his promises. But here’s what will not change: God will always keep his promises. Now if God waited on us until he had 100% perfect and complete trust from us, well, he’d hardly be able to keep a single promise! He doesn’t operate that way, though, as you know. He doesn’t withhold from us what he has a right to. He doesn’t treat us as he has a right to. He doesn’t give us what we really deserve. Instead, he delivers. Just as we’ll see over the course of the next several weeks in Judges, God delivers.

In baptism, he delivers. In his Supper, he delivers. Through his Word, he delivers. He always delivers! He delivered his Son into this world so that he could deliver his Son for this world. He has done this great thing – the greatest thing – for you. His forgiveness flows freely to you in an abundant stream that will never slow to a trickle, but will always overflow. You are his and he will deliver you always. Let’s stop the cycle and start taking his promises at face value, not requiring any earthly circumstance at all to make his promises more palatable.

God Calls Me to Glorify Him

June 15, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(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

June 8, 2021June 7, 2021 adbLeave a comment

(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?

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