Sermons – Page 5

A Self< Church

September 7, 2023 adbLeave a comment

The boss just laid out the plan for the next project at work. The goal was clearly communicated and comprehended so that everyone knew what they were trying to accomplish. All departments understood their specific roles in the project. Each individual team member was provided with the direction needed to help their department succeed and contribute toward achieving success in the specific effort. So it came as a bit of a shock when, after the boss had finished his presentation, one particular employee stood up and simply said, “Yeah, we’re not going to be doing this. This isn’t going to happen. Not on my watch.”

How long do you suppose that employee would remain with the company? Not long at all!

Jesus could have done much more than just fire Peter for his defiant remark. In his Gospel account of the incident, Matthew records for us what had caused Peter to feel compelled to take Jesus to task: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (v.21).

Peter had only a short time ago confessed that he knew Jesus was the One, the Messiah that God had promised repeatedly throughout history. However, Jesus’ explanation of how he would be carrying out his work didn’t align with the political aspirations Peter had for the Messiah. As Peter saw it, Jesus’ suffering and death were not part of his plan, so he had to take drastic measures. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’” (v.22).

We’re quite used to Peter putting his foot in his mouth. It’s easy to understand why he wouldn’t want to stand by and approve of a plan that involved the suffering and death of his Jesus. He had a heart, after all. He cared about Jesus.

But his objection was actually much more selfish – sinister even. In fact, as Jesus’ response indicated, it was downright satanic. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns’” (v.23).

Whoa! Isn’t that going a bit farther than necessary? Is Jesus doing one of those hyperbole things where he uses an over-the-top extreme to make his point? You hear people joke about temptation from others (“C’mon, just have one more piece of dessert – it’s sooooooo good!”) with a, “Get behind me, Satan,” but Jesus was not at all joking. He was deadly serious.

Because so is Satan. Peter’s rebuttal to Jesus’ teaching was not just a matter of misguided concern a guy had for his friend. It wasn’t because he had a better plan in mind (as if there could have been one!). Rather, it was an attempt on the part of Satan to thwart God’s plan of salvation.

Jesus had made it clear that these things (his suffering, death, and resurrection) “must” (v.21) happen. They had to. This was the plan God had in mind to carry out the substitutionary work salvation required. The perfect Lamb, Jesus Christ, had to be offered up as the only sacrifice that could serve as payment for sin. Jesus had to suffer and die. “It must be this way,” he told his disciples.

So also today, anything that opposes the good news of the gospel – anything at all – comes from the evil one. There is no harmless indifference to the gospel. There are no alternative plans or paths that might work out. There are no religions or false gods that could provide forgiveness and eternal life. There was and there is no other way to a right relationship with God than through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Anything else – anything at all – comes from the evil one.

The scariest part of all of this? Look what drove Peter’s objection: “human concerns.” It wasn’t some deep theological truth that Peter had uncovered that prompted him to rebuke Jesus; it was his own ideas about who Jesus was supposed to be and how he was supposed to proceed.

Peter wasn’t concerned about God’s plans. Peter wasn’t concerned about Jesus’ plans. Peter wasn’t concerned about the other disciples’ plans. No, Peter was concerned about Peter’s plans, and Peter’s plans only.

Does that same selfish concern that each and every one of us is capable of help you grasp why Jesus explained discipleship the way he did? “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’” (v.24). “You want to be my disciple? You want to follow me? OK, first things, first, we have to get you out of the way. We have to get self out of the picture, or he’ll only serve to provide a platform for the devil to go to work. And the only way to do that is for you to deny the most difficult person on the planet to deny: yourself.”

I was recently reminded of why this is the most challenging thing of all for us to do by a quote from a little book, What’s Big Starts Small. In it, the author warns about why pride can be so destructive to the growth of our faith. He writes, “But pride offers an objection that makes you the exception” (p.42). That is just another way of saying that self is an expert at pretending it has permission for whatever it wants. “What is wrong for you is clear as day, but here’s why it isn’t wrong when I do it.”

“Yes, I got a little angry and lost control, but it was justifiable in light of what the other person did.” “Of course the stay-at-home mom shouldn’t be drinking excessively during the day and putting her kids at risk, but my job is 100 times more stressful and a few drinks every night help me relax.” “There is no reason for a guy to ever push a girl around, but our relationship is different and her level of disrespect is unacceptable.” “Blatantly walking a full cart out of the store without paying is one thing, but what I’m skimming from the register is just enough to get me by until things get better and of course I’ll pay it all back.”

Pride – self – makes me the exception. It does the same for you. That’s why Jesus says we must deny it and let it die. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (v.25).

But what about the risk of not looking out for ourselves? If we don’t, who else will? How can we be sure that this practice of denying self is going to work out in the end? If we don’t advocate for ourselves, who else will?

I think you know the answer, but let me try to state it a little bit differently than you’re probably used to hearing it. Here is the bottom line: You cannot care about yourself more than Jesus does.

You cannot care about yourself more than Jesus does.

Do you understand? No matter how much you want to buy into the world’s emphasis on the importance of self-care and self-image and self-love and self-esteem and self-discovery and self… etc. – all of that put together into perfect practice will never amount to caring about yourself more than Jesus does.

If that were not true, it would have been you on the cross and not him.

If that were not true, it would have been you condemned for your sin instead of him.

If that were not true, he would have allowed you to be abandoned and forsaken by the Father and not him.

But since he bore all of that on himself for you, let there never be any doubt that no one ever has and no one ever will care more about you than Jesus.

So let go of the lie and live free. Shut out the internal pleas to serve self first and everyone else second. Jesus has you covered and now he wants to use you to help make sure everyone else knows they’re covered by him, too.

When we deny self, when we set down self, instead of dragging that care and concern with us wherever we go, then we’ve got free hands. With those hands, we find it much easier to pick up the crosses that are all around us.

The cross of patient sacrifice in your strained marriage to a demanding spouse is much lighter when you set down self. The cross that comes in the shape of the extra workload you carry at work for the demeaning co-worker who doesn’t miss the opportunity to poke fun at your faith here and there. The cross of confusion over why God continues to permit the chronic pain that you’ve dealt with for years. The cross of abuse and its long-term effects. The cross of addiction that lingers despite the overall progress. The cross of family members struggling with identity and sexuality.

These crosses are not light, to be sure, but we are able to bear them much more effectively when we aren’t also carrying around the weight of self.

And, we are able to bear them much more effectively when we realize we never bear them alone. We can be confident of this because we know Jesus’ own answer to his rhetorical question at the close of these verses. Jesus asked, “Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (v.26). Our answer, everyone’s answer, is of course, “Nothing.”

Jesus, though, has a different answer: “Everything.” He literally gave up everything for our souls. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Only One perfectly denied self. Only One perfectly lost his life. Only Jesus, and Jesus alone is our hope.

Are you worried about what will happen if you cast off the perceived need to look out for yourself above all else? Worry not, for as much as your old self lies to you about looking out for number one, here is the truth we must remember: You cannot possibly care about yourself more than Jesus does. If that, dear friends, is true – and it absolutely is – then you are freed from yourself. Jesus has you covered. Go and be the church he wants, the self< church.

The Church Clings to Christ

August 29, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Exodus 34:5-9)

The sender’s name in your email inbox is someone you know, but the email itself sounds fishy. Something doesn’t feel right about it. You know the person well enough that you can’t imagine they’d be asking you to open the weird-sounding file that is attached, click on a link to a picture to confirm it’s you, or send them some money because they’re stranded somewhere while traveling. Then you look closer, not at the name of the sender, but at the actual email address from which it came, and realize it’s gibberish. That confirms it – someone using a spam email address was pretending to be someone you knew.

And it isn’t just email – it’s voicemails that sound like urgent notifications requiring an immediate response. It’s texts from unknown numbers not in your contact list that are looking to strike up a random conversation. Some sound more legit than others, so how do you know which ones are real and which ones are fake? How do you know which ones you can trust and which ones are setting you up for fraud or something worse? Even if you know what signs or indicators give them away, it isn’t always easy to tell who’s the real deal and who isn’t.

Churches can be the same way. As we continue our series focusing on the church God wants, it’s one thing to know what God wants for his church, but it’s another to be able to determine which churches can be relied on to serve that God, the true God, and not some fraud or look-alike pretender. But what happens when a church serves a fraudulent version of God, an imposter, a pretender? That church may claim to worship the true God, but how can we know?

We look first to where God has revealed himself to us so that we can know what he is like: his Word. “[The Lord] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (v.6-7). The next time someone says there’s no gospel in the Old Testament and that it’s all law, direct them to this description of the Lord! It is a flood of grace and love! It’s a picture of God that no other religion comes even remotely close to capturing. This is the true God and how the true God wishes to be known.

While God revealing himself like this is amazing on its own, it stands out even more when we consider his timing in choosing when to reveal himself this way.

God was going to be giving Moses the Ten Commandments a second time. Stop and think about how the world typically operates when laws or rules are given. Authority is flexed. Punishments are threatened. Consequences are emphasized. The effectiveness of the law is based on one thing: fear. So to give it teeth, we make sure those on the receiving end of any laws are very clear on what they need to be afraid of happening to them if they break the rules. That’s how we operate. But not God.

In addition to knowing what God was about to do, also remember what had already happened. Why was God needing to give the Ten Commandments to Moses a second time? If you’re familiar with your history, then you remember what happened to the original set of tablets when Moses came down the mountain the first time: he smashed them to pieces at the sight he witnessed.

There, fresh off their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt by God’s hand, were the Israelites rallying around and revering a hunk of metal shaped like a cow. They were worshipping a golden calf rather than the true God who had just delivered them from a fanatical pharaoh and his army! Being on the receiving end of that level of disrespect, God would have been completely justified in instantly eliminating the Israelites.

Instead, he revealed himself as “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (v.6-7). Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in love and faithfulness and maintaining it. Forgiving. These are the calling cards of the true God.

The police sketch artist might help out in a case by speaking with witnesses or officers to attempt to draw a likeness of an alleged criminal to help law enforcement or legal counsel know who to focus on. That sketch artist will take the various descriptions provided by others and use them to sketch out an image that reflects the suspect. In order to sketch an accurate likeness, however, he needs some sort of description on which to base it.

We have in these verses a description from the Lord himself of what to look for if we’re trying to identify the true God. This is what he looks like!

And boy does this description stand out! Compassion and grace are so often MIA in our world when it comes to the plight of those experiencing disaster or distress. “They should have known better. They should have been more careful. They should have made better choices.” We forget that all of those things could be true, but they still don’t relieve us of our responsibility to compassionately care for our neighbor in his need.

Instead of our anger getting slower and slower, our fuse keeps getting shorter and shorter. Rather than a flood of love and faithfulness, there seems to be a drought of it. We struggle to maintain our loving commitment to one person – our spouse – let alone maintaining love to thousands. We don’t long to see more forgiveness for wickedness and rebellion, but rather more punishment.

How much all of these qualities of God stand out in a world that is without them!

And not just a world that is without them, but our own hearts. Not only do we see so few of these qualities around us; we also lack them within us. That’s when we realize how much the world needs a God who is all of these things that it is not. That’s when we realize how much we need a God who is all of these things that we are not.

Moses realized that, too. “‘Lord,’ he said, ‘if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance’” (v.9). Moses didn’t ask God to forgive their sins, but our sin. He included himself among the stiff-necked and wicked. He pleaded for God’s people as well as himself. He appealed to all of the qualities that God had just revealed about himself and asked to be treated, not on the basis of his own behavior, but on the basis of God’s benevolence.

So it isn’t just “the church” that needs the true God; we do. It isn’t just the church that needs all of those qualities; we do. It isn’t just the church that can only stand if God’s forgiveness and faithfulness are its foundation; we can only stand with his forgiveness and faithfulness.

And we know that we have it, because we have Christ. We know what compassion looks like, because we know Jesus. We experience what grace means, because we experience Jesus. We know what forgiveness feels like, because we know Jesus. We know what abounding love looks like, because we know Jesus. The church that God wants is the church that clings to Christ. Therefore, the people that make up the church that God wants, are people who cling to Christ.

Do you know what that means? It means all Jesus, all the time. I don’t mean for you to go out and make it weird, but rather make it so regular that it isn’t weird at all.

Jesus is in my marriage. Jesus is at the forefront of parenting my children with patience and grace. Jesus is the filter in all my friendships. Jesus is how I see my enemy in a different light. Jesus is why I am drawn to those in need and want to help. Jesus is who I yearn for my unbelieving neighbor to know. Jesus’ kingdom and its significance is why I can temper my passions for worldly and political kingdoms. Jesus is why I can control my anger.

Jesus is… everything, all the time. Not just occasionally. Not just when we’re talking religion. Not just when I’m surrounded by other Christians. The church God wants – the people God wants – cling to Christ all the time.

Of all the characteristics of God listed in this description, most are quite familiar, but I want to draw attention to one particular phrase that I think is hugely important for us to understand in the church God wants: it’s God’s “maintaining love to thousands” (v.7). When we think of many earthly infatuations or interests, they so often start off strong, but then fizzle or fade away. The things we thought we loved or couldn’t live without are forgotten.

But not God’s love for us. He maintains that love. He keeps it going. It is sustained on an ongoing basis and will not die out or run out.

When we gather for worship on Sunday mornings, we see all the different ways. Our whole worship is centered on his Word, from the opening Invocation to the closing Blessing and everything in-between. That is Jesus maintaining his love for us.

When we have a baptism, there God’s love is so clearly on display that he graciously brings a helpless infant into his family through the loving promises of his Word poured out along with the water.

Then we have the Lord’s Supper, as we will celebrate shortly, where Jesus gives to us his very body and blood to remind us of his sacrifice, point us to the price he paid, and assure us that his love flows most freely through his limitless forgiveness. God maintains his love for thousands – for his church, for you – through the work that he does every time we gather together in his house.

But… what about the part of these verses that describe a God who “does not leave the guilty unpunished…” (v.7)? Shouldn’t that terrify us? Shouldn’t that worry us?

No, not one little bit! For you, Christian, are not guilty. You are in Christ. Since Christ took our guilt on himself, along with the punishment it deserved, all who are in Christ are not guilty.

So how do we tell if the god of any given church is a fraud or a fake? We listen for Jesus. And when we hear him, we listen for more than just an example to follow or a model Christian that we should all strive to be more like. We listen for a Savior. And then we cling to him. That’s the kind of church God wants.

Church Is for Everyone

August 21, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 15:21-28)

Church is for everyone. At my church we have a tagline that expresses that: Seeking the Lost, Serving the Found. Whether you’re a non-believer or a believer, you fit into one of those categories – lost or found. Either way, church is for you.

But is that really true? Is the church just towing the company line or is it really a church for everyone? Would literally anyone be welcome on a Sunday? I’m guessing that even as that question is lingering in your mind, you are envisioning a person or two – perhaps even a very specific individual – or maybe just a general type of person, that you’d really struggle to sit right next to in church. Would someone who has that kind of history be welcome? Would someone who voted for that candidate be welcome? Would someone struggling with that right now really be welcome?

Regardless of how much a person might struggle individually with certain people being in church, that doesn’t make it any less true: church is for everyone.

In that regard, Christianity is the most inclusive religion of all. No one needs to measure up or be good enough. There is no application. There are zero requirements. There is no vetting process. There is no referral needed. There is no exclusion on any basis.

When Jesus did what he did, he did it for every single person. Jesus’ perfect life of obedience was carried out so that every single person could claim the righteousness necessary to be good with God. Jesus’ undeserving death on the cross was offered up so that his sacrifice would pay for every single sin of every single person. Jesus effectively rendered hell and condemnation powerless and death a thing of which to be unafraid. Jesus is for everyone, and because he is, so is his church. Church is for everyone.

But it isn’t really for everyone.

Some of you know what I mean more than others. You’ve probably even explained it that way to someone else before: “Church isn’t really for me. It’s not my thing. I’m not the church-going type.” You have your own reasons. Maybe going to church was forced on you as a child, and that insistence on attending church was never accompanied by any grace or compassion that was supposed to flow from church. Maybe going to church rubs you the wrong way because it’s filled with a bunch of hypocritical pretenders whose lifestyles as far as you’re concerned rarely match up with what they claim to believe. Maybe going to church seems antiquated and unenlightened in this advanced age of science and reason. Maybe… I could go on with reason after reason why church just isn’t for some people.

And you know what? They’re usually right. It isn’t for them. It may not be for you.

But know the right reason why.

It isn’t because you aren’t welcome. It isn’t because you don’t fit some mold. It isn’t because all of the things Jesus did for all people don’t include you. It isn’t because you wouldn’t stand to be blessed by it – you absolutely would.

It isn’t any of those reasons or a host of others that might be offered.

No, it isn’t for you because you don’t need it. And until you realize how much you need it, it will never be for you.

The Canaanite woman hounding Jesus needed him. I mean, really needed him. How much? Well, she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, and she didn’t think twice about clapping back at Jesus after he seemed to dismiss her!

Jesus plainly told her, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (v.26). Jesus wasn’t insulting the woman, but rather laying out God’s game plan for him. He was to reach the Jewish people before the Gentiles (non-Jews).

To understand the point Jesus was making, imagine spending time in the kitchen getting dinner ready for the family. Once it’s all ready, the places are set at the table. Then the food is brought over. Then, as everyone sits down to eat, the first thing the family does is fill the puppy’s dog bowl with the food that was just prepared. Then, after he’s had his fill, the family eats whatever is left over.

That is, of course, not how it happens! The family eats, and the pet gets the leftovers. And the Canaanite woman was bold enough to point that out to Jesus. “‘Yes it is, Lord’ she said ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.‘” (v.27).

What prompted such boldness? She was in need. She “came to [Jesus], crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly’” (v.22). The need was obvious: her daughter was enduring excruciating suffering as a result of possession. But it wasn’t the need alone; it was also what she was asking of Jesus: mercy.

Realize what mercy is: undeserved help for the undeserving. She knew she didn’t have any business pestering Jesus. But she also knew Jesus, and she knew what right she had in asking him: none.

That’s what mercy is. It is the undeserving asking for the undeserved from the One who can serve it. It is humbly acknowledging, “I don’t ask this of you because I have it coming or because I am entitled to it; rather, just the opposite. I know that I don’t, but I know who you are, Jesus. Mercy is your middle name.”

So then, church is not really for anyone who has no need of Jesus or his mercy. If we don’t need his mercy or help, then we don’t need his church where he dispenses these gifts. If we’ve got our life pretty much together and lack nothing, who needs Jesus? We’re good folks, good spouses, good parents, good family members, good workers, good friends, good neighbors. We don’t have struggles, no addictions, no weaknesses, no regrets, no guilt. None of those things. Therefore, we don’t need Jesus or his help or mercy.

But let’s consider another question: what if Jesus needs you?

I know – rather absurd sounding, isn’t it? If God is truly God, what need could he possibly have that he couldn’t satisfy himself, right? Actually, it isn’t about what God is capable of doing, but how he has chosen to do it. And he chooses to use people like you and me to do his work.

The way Jesus intends to dispense his help and mercy to those in need of it is through people like you. In the book of Isaiah, the Lord spoke of “foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants” (Isaiah 56:6).

How does one minister to the Lord or be his servant? We often confine such thoughts to religious activities, like going to church and giving offerings. We imagine monks and nuns dedicating their lives in service to the Lord. But serving the Lord is so much bigger than any of that!

We minister to and serve the Lord by ministering to and loving others. Loving and serving my neighbor is my love and service to the Lord. When we carry out that service to the Lord, others come to know about him because they experience his loving qualities and characteristics through his people, his church.

Paul said it another way in the book of Ephesians (cf. chapter 2). What if Jesus is waiting to build you into his church so that through you he can bless and care for others as you speak of the peace and reconciliation they have through the cross? What if Jesus needs you to love and serve others on his behalf? Could that be possible?

If you think that is a stretch, let’s go a step further and consider the possibility of having a great faith like that of the Canaanite woman! How so? When you realize that you are even less-deserving of Jesus than she was, and yet still relentlessly plead for his mercy, you have what Jesus said she had: great faith.

Recall in my previous post how Peter demonstrated a similar faith. Right after his own strength left him sinking in the sea, he looked to Jesus for help and deliverance. That was great faith – faith that refocused on Jesus after self-destructing yet again.

The Canaanite woman’s great faith had little to do with her and everything to do with Jesus. Great faith doesn’t toot its own horn or talk itself up. Great faith is revealed when Jesus is the focus, front and center.

That reminds me of what is different about our church’s school, as it begins its 50th Anniversary this school year. It isn’t merely a private school. It’s way more than that. It’s a school that keeps Jesus as the focus, front and center. It’s a school with teachers who know something much more valuable than what any technology or textbook can teach: they know a Savior, a Jesus, whose middle name is mercy. And there is nothing more valuable.

Why? Because there we teach children where to turn when they are in need – and they will be in need for the rest of their lives. And the needs they have are not needs that can be met by even the most loving parents, caring friends, or professional practitioners. Sure, some of those needs can be met by some of those listed, but in other areas, only Jesus can meet their needs.

Only Jesus will ever love them unconditionally. Only Jesus will forgive them without limit. Only Jesus will value and treasure them as priceless. Only Jesus will listen to, hear, and answer their every request at all times. Only Jesus has opened heaven and eternity to them. In our school, children will come to know Jesus better and better. They’ll come to know that Jesus is for them.

Our teachers are committed to a ministry that consists of reminding their students on a daily basis that Jesus is for them. As they teach each subject and connect with each student, in so many different ways, they have opportunity after opportunity to instill in their students’ hearts and minds that Jesus is for them. Good grades and excellent test scores will serve to richly bless our students in many ways for this life, but Jesus will both enhance those blessings and add to them blessings that will last for eternal life. In our school, students will know that Jesus is for them.

Jesus is also for you, and for all those who need him. Therefore, his church – our church – is for you, and for everyone who needs him.

Refocusing Faith

August 14, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 14:22-33)

Regardless of the sport, even superior athletes all have something in common, statistically speaking: they will always miss. The best free-throw shooters still miss free throws. The best wide receivers still drop passes. The best hitters still strike out.

I realize I am not stating anything that you didn’t already know. But, I want you to see that what is true in the world of sports and competition is also every bit as true when it comes to our faith.

We tend to think that a great faith is one that never misses, never stumbles or falls short, that never experiences weakness. As we wrap up our series that has focused on how we define what it means to be a Christian, I want us to replace the misguided idea that great faith is faith that never falters. Instead, let’s see a great faith as one that excels at refocusing on Jesus every time it does fall short.

If ever there was a disciple of Jesus who had multiple opportunities to put that kind of faith into practice, wasn’t it Peter? How many times do we see Peter’s faith waffle? And yet, how he responds is everything. He gets better and better at refocusing on Jesus.

We can’t help but chuckle a bit at Peter when Jesus meets the disciples on the water. What is Peter’s brilliant idea for confirming that the individual walking toward them was in fact, Jesus? “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water” (v.28).

Two things: First, Jesus’ response, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (v.27), really should have been sufficient. Had the disciples – or anyone else in history, for that matter – ever known anyone else who could possibly be doing what Jesus was doing as he stepped along the sea’s surface? Who else would have simply said, “It is I” and expected that to be explanation enough without providing a name?

Second, the proof Peter requests to assure the disciples that it was Jesus, is totally… well, totally Peter. Who else but Peter would have come up with such an over-the-top idea? Wouldn’t it have been enough to ask, “If it’s really you, Jesus, what did we have for lunch yesterday?” or “What was the name of the man you healed last Wednesday?” But no, flashy Peter wants to share the spotlight and be the one to walk on water with Jesus.

What might be even more surprising than Peter’s audacious request was that Jesus complied! Jesus very well could have called Peter out right then and there. “The first words out of my mouth to you guys were ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid,’ and you follow up immediately with ‘Lord, if it’s you…?’” “If???” “If it’s me???” We could almost envision Jesus smacking Peter upside the back of his head after his response. Instead, though, Jesus grants Peter’s request and invites him to come out to him on the water.

A brief side note: there might be a place here for the reminder to be careful what we ask for. Peter made a bold request to walk on water – and Jesus granted it! However, given how this account played out, one might wonder if Peter initially had in mind the same outcome that Jesus did. We do well to remember that at certain times when God grants us the thing we asked for, he may very well be granting it for an entirely different purpose than what we had in mind. Granted, his purpose will always be for our good – it just might not be the same “good” that we had in mind!

Back to Peter’s faith. As we look at Peter’s actions in this account, I believe he actually showed remarkable faith not once, but twice.

First, he hopped out of the boat on Jesus’ word alone (yes, it did come after his “Lord, if…”, but still!). For all of the grief we give Peter – and much of it is justified! – his trust in Jesus at times stands out, especially when Scripture shows us plenty of interactions between God and men where faith wasn’t so firm (for example, think of Moses waffling at God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt or Jonah making a beeline away from Ninevah instead of to at as God had commanded)! So to see Peter leap out of the boat without any need of extra coaxing is quite commendable – especially given that walking on water was not a very typical everyday practice or habit for most people!

Could our own faith stand to do a little more of this? Is our faith at times too stifled or short-sighted that it doesn’t leave room for God to do the things that only God can do (like walk on water…)? Is our faith constrained by playing only the favorable percentages or probable outcomes? Do we live the better part of our lives by sight and not by faith, by what can be seen with our own eyes rather than what God has shown in the past and is more than capable of showing in the future? Are there areas of your own life where your faith needs to get out of the boat a little more or are you just playing it safe, coasting and relaxing aboard your cruise ship through life?

Jumping out of the boat wasn’t the only demonstration of Peter’s great faith. The second time came when right after his own faith failed him. It had happened so quickly, too! Just like that, Peter’s confidence in Christ sank into uncertainty as the wind acted up. But rather than counting on his own abilities, flailing his arms about or kicking his legs harder or taking deeper breaths or any number of things to try and save himself, he looked to his Lord for rescue. He looked to Jesus immediately and cried out, “Lord, save me!” (v.30). And Jesus delivered him.

Jesus will do the same for us, even after – especially after – our own faith fails us. Too often we get stuck wallowing in our own imperfect faith after we stumble. Of course it’s imperfect! What did you expect, sinner?!? Stop bemoaning your miserable faith and refocus on your merciful Savior. The solution is not to wallow in self-pity over your lackluster faith! Instead, refocus on the one who makes faith great in the first place: Jesus.

Yes, we need to redefine what great faith is. If we are carrying with us the idea that a great faith is one that never stumbles and that our faith will never be great until it gets to that point, we’re in for a world of disappointment in ourselves! Good luck with that idea of great faith! Your faith will stumble, guaranteed! That isn’t the question. The question is, what do you do when it does? Where do you turn? The better you get at refocusing on Jesus as soon as you stumble, the better off you’ll be.

Yes, Jesus did rebuke Peter after rescuing him from sinking, but don’t quickly gloss over the “after rescuing him” part! Jesus rescued Peter, and then he allowed Peter to look back and reflect on what had happened. Why? So that he could learn from his mistake. So that the next time when something much more threatening than wind or waves would arise, Peter would know not to be terrified by the distractions and would instead refocus on the one who delivers.

To appreciate the confidence Jesus provides us with here, think of the child learning to walk or swim. Few little ones are brave enough or confident enough to attempt such feats by themselves (and often end up learning the hard way how unwise it is if they do!). But if dad or mom is there, holding out their hands, ready and willing to catch them, suddenly the child’s fears are alleviated and they take the first step or jump into the pool and attempt it. They know they’re in good hands. Instead of focusing on falling down or sinking, they are focused on the safety and security dad or mom provides.

We have every reason to live in confident faith the same exact way. We don’t pretend our faith will never fail us or let us down – it will; it’s imperfect. But the object of our faith – Jesus – is perfect.

So rather than pretending we can somehow work more on our faith to get it to some point of never stumbling, we instead work on focusing more on Jesus, the perfecter of our faith, and the One who will never let us go. He allows us to take big, bold steps out of the boat, just like Peter. And if we sink or fall – or rather when we sink or fall – he will always be there to catch us. That’s what faith does. It doesn’t wait until it’s big enough or strong enough to act; rather, it acts because it knows Jesus is big and strong enough.

Lest we miss it, there’s another detail in this account that can go a long way in helping us get better at refocusing our faith.

Before he even walked along the waves, pay attention to what Jesus did first. He and his disciples had just had a long day ministering to literally thousands of people. Jesus had been healing the sick and then at the end of the day, carried out one of his most well-known miracles in the feeding of the five thousand. And all of this, mind you, while he was still internally wrestling with the recent news that his cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded by Herod. After all of that, Matthew explains, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd” (v.22).

Having directed the disciples to get a head start in making their way to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus bid goodnight and farewell to the crowds, sending them on their way. Jesus had some downtime alone. How did he spend it?

Naturally, he poured himself a nightcap and settled in to catch up on a few episodes of his favorite show. Well, not really. “After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray” (v.23). Now there is a way to unwind and recalibrate after a long day. Prayer.

Now there isn’t anything wrong with a nightcap or a few episodes of your favorite show once in a while. Enjoy those gifts for what they are.

But let’s also grow to appreciate that Jesus found something in solitary prayer that may very well be missing from our lives to a greater extent: time with his Father. In prayer with his Father, where we so often find Jesus in the Gospels, he found not a surreal peace and calm, but a real peace and calm. Prayer – not just before or during his busy ministry activity, but after as well – restored and recalibrated our Redeemer to carry out his work on our behalf.

Surely we could stand to follow his path of prayer more regularly. Doing so also results in our thoughts and attention being more frequently directed to the Lord, which would go a long way toward helping us grow in refocusing our faith on our perfect Savior and his grace and forgiveness.

Let that be a defining mark of your Christian faith – that you always work on refocusing on Jesus again and again. That is a great faith. Christian, strive to get better and better at looking to Christ.

Don’t Doubt During the Drought

August 8, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(1 Kings 17:1-6)

When everything in your world is going according to plan and playing out the way you imagine it should be, more or less, we don’t talk about trust. When we have what we need and we’re able to do what we do without interruption or inconvenience, we don’t talk about trust. When health is favorable and finances are fine, we don’t talk about trust. When family is getting along and friendships are thriving, we don’t talk about trust. When there are no challenges at church and we’re on good terms with all of our neighbors, we don’t talk about trust.

But if – rather when – any of those areas of life start to veer off course or take a completely wrong turn, suddenly trust is a topic of discussion. However, you might not realize it right away, because you may not initially see that as the issue. Instead, it usually starts off with questions about what God is or is not doing, or why he is or is not doing it, or when he’s going to start or stop doing it. We wonder if God has changed his mind about us, has forgotten about us, or is possibly punishing us. When we find ourselves wrestling with those questions, the real concern is not God, but us. God God, who has made it clear he does not change, is not the issue; we are. Or to put it another way, our trust in him is.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the times we are most likely to talk about trust are the times when trust is tested? This is the case whether a person’s trust appears to be an unraveling mess or an unshakeable mountain. In each case, the best way we assess whether trust is floundering or flourishing is when trust is tested. To know where we stand regarding trust then, our trust must be tried, and times of trial serve as the litmus test.

One historical season of trial for God’s people came during the reign of the kings. With few exceptions, evil and wickedness were the distinguishing marks of the kings after David. Yet, there was one whose wickedness far surpassed all others: Ahab. As if to set his wickedness apart, Ahab receives noticeably more coverage in Scripture than other kings. His marriage to Jezebel helped seal his nasty reputation. Their state-mandated sleazy and morbid worship of Baal and Asherah took Israel’s idolatry to its lowest low.

In sharp contrast to Ahab, we have the prophet Elijah, who comes onto the scene of Scripture in these verses rather abruptly and with very little introduction. Unlike Ahab, Elijah’s faithfulness bears testimony to the meaning of his name, “The LORD is my God.” In contrast to a king and people whose gods were impotent idols, Elijah demonstrated a towering trust in God. How so? By his words and actions.

Elijah’s confidence is clearly expressed in the boldness of his first recorded words to Ahab, which were not words of encouragement but, as a call to repentance, were words of judgment. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (v.1).

And Elijah wasn’t only the bearer of the bad news of famine; he also boldly clarified where his loyalties laid: with the Lord, the God of Israel (as opposed to Baal and Asherah, who, no matter how much they were worshipped, were certainly not the gods of Israel). Ahab had the power to put Elijah to death (and indeed did hunt down God’s prophets and put them to death!), but that authority didn’t intimidate Elijah enough to topple his trust in the Lord and keep him from speaking. His words revealed where he tethered his trust: to the Lord.

Not only did his words demonstrate his trust in God. So did his actions. The Lord had instructed him to hide out from Ahab in a ravine, where he promised to provide for him during the drought. How did Elijah respond? “So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there” (v.5).

The Lord directed him and Elijah obeyed. And not just temporarily, until he perhaps tired of it or started to worry once the brook was drying up. No, he “stayed there” until God gave him his next marching orders to go visit a certain widow in Zarephath (where God would continue building up Elijah’s trust with yet another miracle). So we are able to gauge Elijah’s level of trust because there was a season of testing.

If you are not currently in a season of testing, don’t hold your breath – you will be soon. Such seasons at times come on us slowly, allowing us to anticipate and prepare for them. At other times, though, such seasons are relentless, exploding around us like a furious fireworks finale – boom! boom! boom! – one after another after another, with little or no break in between. Either way, no matter the pace, seasons of testing will come.

Some of you don’t have to wait. Some of you are currently at the beginning, middle, or end of such a season. You are grappling with life after losing a loved one. A financial squeeze is suffocating you, like a python wrapped around you, slowly increasing the pressure one bill at a time. Or, the world’s waywardness weighs on you, taking you to a new low of doubt and confusion over God’s apparent indifference. A relative’s attitude and actions against your family are pushing the exercise of your Christian faith to its limits. Wherever you are in these seasons of testing, these times of drought, you teeter more and more on the edge of doubt as you question God. To be sure, your trust is being tested.

How do we demonstrate where our trust is at? Just as Elijah did – by the words spoken and the actions taken. Pay attention to how you speak to yourself and to others during this drought as your trust is being tested. Do your words reflect that God is good and that in and through Christ you have already been given the victory, which in turn assures you that this, too, shall pass? No, we don’t always speak that way because we often don’t feel that way.

But that’s backward. Why would you wait until you feel as if it’s true to trust God’s promises? Are your feelings more reliable than the promises of God’s Word? Surely not. So don’t wait to feel as if God is good or that you are victorious in Christ. Instead, start speaking that way during your time of testing. And you know what?

You’ll start to believe it. Too often we let our feelings steer us, as if those will ever be more reliable or trustworthy than God’s promises. Speak his promises. Tell yourself and others what he tells you and promises you. He is good all the time, and in Jesus Christ and through the power of his resurrection, you are victorious.

Then, just as Elijah did, also act as if you believe those truths to be true. Act as if God is good and as if you are victorious in Christ. When our actions follow those truths, we do things differently.

We don’t buy into the lie that a season of testing is a valid or legitimate reason for not gathering with our church family each week to be where we need to be more than anywhere else – reassured and filled up with God’s good gifts of grace and forgiveness.

We don’t wait until we feel like serving others (including the individual or group who very well might be the source of our testing); our love takes action on their behalf.

We don’t spend less time talking to God in prayer because we’re mad at him or can’t understand why he allowed what he did to happen; we spend more time in prayer, pouring out our frustrations and asking God for answers as he wills to reveal them.

We don’t presume we can stick it to God with our pocketbooks by withholding our gifts from him; rather, we continue to thank him with a portion of our gifts even when it seems counterintuitive to being able to pay off our bills.

So we speak and we act in ways that make evident our trust in God during times of testing. We don’t take the all-too-familiar path of doubt during the drought.

What happened when Elijah trusted during the drought? God was God, doing what God does and keeping his promises. Sometimes, God even uses miracles in doing so. “‘You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.’ So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook” (v.4-6).

Elijah was tested. Elijah trusted. God delivered.

That’s how God operates in your life, too. We are tested. We trust. God delivers.

God always delivers – that’s what he does. Delivering is his specialty. How much room is there for doubting his deliverance when we consider the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ? Will the One who paid such a price for your sin really follow that up with, “Oh, but I forgot about the food you need, or the clothes, or the fill-in-the-blank?”

Will the One who redeemed your body and soul fail to provide for the body and soul he redeemed?

Will the One who is present in body and blood of the sacrament abandon us at the death of a loved one?

That is not God. That is not what he does. He does not abandon; he delivers.

The forgiveness that he delivered through his own death, he will continue to deliver through Word and sacrament until he returns again on the last day. And if he is committed to delivering us in that way, he will deliver us in every other way as well.

But for us to see that deliverance, and to see where our trust is, there will be testing. Elijah was tested. Elijah trusted. God delivered. Let the same be said of you. When you were/are tested, you trusted, and God delivered. Remember what God did on his cross for you and you will not doubt his deliverance – not even during the droughts.

Wealth That’s Worth It

August 7, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 13:44-52)

What if the answer to the question is “Yes”? What would change? Would your mindset shift, would you reassess your job or career, or would you start paying much closer attention to your retirement plan if the answer to the question, “Can money buy happiness?” is yes? Well, there seems to be more than enough evidence from recent surveys and studies that have led scientists to conclude that money can buy happiness (Google “Can money buy happiness?” and choose from countless hits for a point of reference).

But, it might be wise to look a little bit more into the findings that show a correlation between money and happiness. Because, while it would be hard to deny a relationship between money and happiness, what isn’t really covered in all of the studies is the degree of happiness. In other words, how much happier does money make us, and how much money does one have to make to reach the next level of happiness?

So if one million dollars increase my level of happiness by the equivalent of, say, simply watching an entertaining movie, is pursuing that one million dollars worth it, or could I find the same level of happiness just by watching the movie? Moreover, does it take a second million dollars for my happiness to jump to the next level? Is that worth it? What studies comparing money and happiness can’t really answer for us is how much happier and whether or not the effort related to that financial increase could simply be spent pursuing happiness in other areas.

After all, isn’t the state of happiness a pretty relative term? Haven’t we heard the stories of children in third-world countries who have only one or two changes of clothes, scraps for food, and yet are happy to be able to kick around a soccer ball all day? Haven’t we heard of the financial planner with clients who purchase two or three of everything presuming that more of something will increase happiness? So discovering that money buys happiness is only part of the equation – we need to determine what defines our happiness.

Doesn’t it actually make more sense to align your happiness with what you value? So, if retail therapy makes me happy, then yes, more money would allow you to buy more stuff. But what if solid relationships make me happiest? Can you buy those? If getting lost in a book brings me happiness, I can spend nothing at the library to get another one. If good health makes me happy, it doesn’t have to cost anything to get outside or follow a workout video inside. If happiness is a relative term, let’s stop asking how much money it takes to buy happiness and instead focus on the source of our happiness.

In the verses this morning, two individuals appeared pretty happy. A man found a treasure hidden in a field and another man in search of pearls found one of great value. What did they do? The one stumbling upon the treasure “in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (v.44), while the merchant “sold everything he had and bought [the pearl]” (v.45). These decisions were not just based on wise financial planning – joy was involved. They joyfully leveraged their net worth to secure the treasure and pearl.

However, when we remember that Jesus’ parables carry with them a deeper spiritual significance, we can’t miss the obvious point of comparison. To what did Jesus compare the hidden treasure and the pearl? The kingdom of heaven. And what, exactly, did he mean by that phrase?

While there is certainly much more that can be said to explain Jesus’ use of the phrase, “kingdom of heaven,” to keep it relatively simple, let’s consider it to refer to everything that is included in believing in and belonging to Jesus. So the kingdom of heaven cannot be experienced or understood apart from faith in Jesus and the good news of his work of salvation. Along with that are included all the blessings that flow into our lives both now and into eternity.

So it has been said that the kingdom of heaven is both now and not yet. It includes the present and the future. Current membership in the kingdom of heaven is made up of those in both the church militant (this side of heaven) and the church triumphant (those saints already in heaven). And all of this kingdom is accessed through only one narrow door: Jesus Christ and his atoning work.

So if the kingdom of heaven includes all the goodness of believing in and belonging to Jesus, now we know the point of comparison in his parables. We better understand what is represented by the hidden treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. They symbolize believing in and belonging to Jesus. And how valuable is that?

It’s worth everything. Literally. Each of the men in the parables immediately liquidated all of their assets – everything they had – for the sake of believing in and belonging to Jesus. Possessions were posted on Offer Up, Ebay, and FB Marketplace. Stocks, sold. Checking and savings accounts, emptied. Retirement plan, cashed out. Anything of temporal value was traded in for something with eternal value.

How much would you be willing to sacrifice for such a treasure? What would you give up? What would you go without? Which possession(s) would you be willing to permanently part with for something you determined was worth it?

We might consider that to be too great a sacrifice, but the idea of making a sacrifice wasn’t at all the perception of either individual in the parable. They didn’t view it as having to give up anything or make some huge sacrifice at all. Rather, they didn’t miss a beat in trading up. They saw it as an upgrade. In their minds, they were not giving up something, but gaining something greater. They weren’t going without, but were getting ahead.

Since this is just a parable of Jesus, we might wonder what it looks like in real life. Practically speaking, what does it look like to place such a high value on the kingdom of heaven, on believing in and belonging to Jesus? We look no further than the apostle Paul, who seemed to be describing in real life what it was like for this parable to play out. In his letter to the Philippians he wrote, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

Doesn’t that sound like the merchant? Doesn’t that sound like the man who stumbled on the hidden treasure? Doesn’t that sound like… you?

Paul considered all earthly worth as worthless compared to Christ. The men in the parable traded in all they had for the kingdom of heaven. And the thought didn’t even cross their minds that they were making a sacrifice or giving something up, but only that what they stood to gain was so easily and obviously worth it. They would give up everything for it.

What is it worth to us? What would we give up for the kingdom of heaven? Everything? Anything?

Do you know the treasure you have inside this kingdom of heaven that is yours right now? Do you know the value of believing in and belonging to Jesus? What we have is like the hidden treasures inside Fabergé eggs. As impressive as the intricate details on the ornate exterior of the eggs are, that’s just the beginning. In one particular egg, when a spring is touched, the egg opens up to reveal a golden yolk. Inside that yolk is a chicken. When the wing of the chicken is pressed, it opens up to show a gold crown, bedazzled with gems. Yet that isn’t all! One more spring can be triggered to reveal a hidden diamond ring in the center.

So it is in the kingdom of heaven. Only there is no limit to the treasures that can be discovered by believing in and belonging to Jesus. The riches of the kingdom of heaven are yours. The blessings of believing in and belonging to Jesus are yours.

Will you leave these treasures untapped? Will you leave the treasures hidden? Will you brush off blessings and jettison the joy and forget about forgiveness take a pass on the peace and purpose? Will you forego the chance to build up his kingdom and extend its reach and maximize gospel ministry and be a force for good in the world and make a difference in your community and love your neighbor and care for the overlooked and so on and so forth? Will you consider everything you’re willing to give up for the kingdom of heaven, only to realize you’re not giving up anything, but gaining everything?

Will you find that happiness is right where you are right now, believing in and belonging to Jesus, and passionately helping others to find that same happiness? Do you realize that as one in the kingdom of heaven, right now you have a wealth that’s truly worth it, for you believe in and belong to Jesus? Nothing will ever be more valuable than that.

Wheat, Weeds, and the Word

July 27, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 13:24-43)

Weeding is a necessary evil. That is, assuming you want to keep the landscape looking nice or wish to grow anything in your vegetable garden. While I don’t know anyone who would put weeding at the top of their list of all-time favorite activities, most of us acknowledge that it needs to be done whether we like it or not.

Since Jesus uses so many agricultural illustrations in his teaching (e.g., he likens the life of a Christian to a tree producing fruit or a crop yielding a harvest), we might ex expect that somewhere in his teaching he’d include a spiritual reference to the importance of weeding. Interestingly enough, though, in this section from Matthew 13, Jesus states that when it comes to weeding in his kingdom, we don’t need to weed. It isn’t required. We’re off the hook.

In fact, he goes a step further by actually prohibiting weeding in his kingdom. In Jesus’ parable, notice the question and response regarding the weeds. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull [the weeds] up?’ ‘No,’ he answered” (v. 28-29a).

“No???” Is it just me, or does that conclusion catch you off guard a bit? On the one hand, it would be perfectly understandable to make the same assumption the servants did: get rid of the weeds so that they don’t choke out the wheat. Don’t let the bad stuff grow and overwhelm the good. This is a natural approach to gardening because if one doesn’t weed, the good stuff doesn’t grow.

That approach would also seem to line up with warnings elsewhere in Scripture when God warns his people not to have anything to do with the deeds of darkness, to avoid every kind of evil, and not to associate with wickedness. He warns us against being yoked together with unbelievers (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14).

Moreover, doesn’t such wickedness arouse our own sense of righteous anger as we are surrounded by it everywhere? Doesn’t God want us to do something about it? Aren’t we supposed to be ready for spiritual warfare and go to battle against all the kinds of blatant sin and disdain against God that is so prevalent? How can the man’s response to his servants’ request about pulling up the wheat be a straightforward “no”??? How is it that Jesus here can be so nonchalant about the threat of evil growing alongside his wheat, his believers?

Let’s jump ahead to Jesus’ explanation of the parable just to make sure we have all of the details right. Maybe that will help us understand a bit better. “He answered, ‘The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels’” (v.37-39). Jesus’ interpretation is pretty straightforward. He doesn’t really provide any additional insights as to why weeding is off-limits. Now what?

Let’s revisit the man’s rationale for prohibiting weeding. “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them’” (v.29). Ah, there is his concern. God is worried about more than just the possible damage that could be caused by the weeds. He is more concerned about accidentally uprooting the wheat.

Are you surprised by this? In our minds, we view the corruption and wickedness all around us as public enemy number one to our faith. We worry about the world’s influence on our faith. We worry about its open attacks on Christianity. We feel the squeeze of sin and its normalization all around us. Surely the potential damage the weeds could do to the wheat is a greater risk than the possibility of accidentally uprooting some of the wheat?!? Spiritual weed-whacking would seem to be the best option, wouldn’t it?

Apparently, Jesus disagrees. Let that sink in. Jesus is less concerned about the influence the wicked world has on his believers than he is about the possibility of any one of his believers being yanked away along with the weeds.

But how does that even happen? Quite easily, as a matter of fact.

Do you remember when Westboro Baptist Church made headlines? Years ago they were regularly making the news, but not for a good reason. They had groups protesting at the funerals of servicemen and women, claiming that such deaths were deserved and were God’s judgment on the military for accepting gays. They picketed in the name of Christianity, claiming God’s judgment here and there.

It is one thing to call out sin – and yes, we are to do that; but it is another to do it lacking so much as an ounce of love. Love prompts us to call sin, sin in hopes of repentance that would see a soul turn from sin to forgiveness and grace in Jesus. Guess what was lacking in any of the groups from Westboro Baptist?

Do you suppose their actions had any impact? I imagine they did… but not for the good of Christ’s Kingdom. Instead, their loveless attitude and calloused, insensitive approach most definitely resulted in increased animosity against Christians, as non-believers lumped all of Christianity with “those types of people.”

And undoubtedly, some Christians who were either young in their faith or on the fringes of their faith concluded that if this was how Christians really acted, then they didn’t want anything to do with Christianity.

That’s the concern the farmer expressed when prematurely pulling the weeds – some of the wheat may come with it.

There is another reason Jesus is less concerned about spiritual weed-whacking: his confidence in the Word of God to sustain believers.

When we consider the two parables Jesus tells between this one and its explanation, we see a different emphasis: an emphasis on the power of the Word. In those parables, Jesus compares the Word to a mustard seed and to yeast. It grows exponentially. So it would seem Jesus has such confidence in the Word keeping the wheat that he is less concerned about weeds crowding out the wheat. Maybe we should have the same confidence!

Another way we might reflect this: let’s focus less on the world’s wickedness and more on how the Word works. The Word works! We can sit around and pout all day about how bad the world, our country, or our state are getting and conclude that Christ’s church is doomed. Or, we can keep trusting that Word still works, it will still bring unbelievers to faith and will continue to keep believers in the faith. Worry less about the weeds and more about how God sustains and grows his wheat, and we’ll be just fine.

If ever there was reason to fear that the weeds were going to overtake the wheat, it was in the final days of Jesus’ life. Surely it appeared as if the weeds were gaining ground and taking over. In Jesus’ final days, as his enemies had their way with him, It was as if the weeds were going to completely eradicate the wheat. Indeed, that was the conclusion of some as Jesus hung crucified, his life cruelly and undeservedly slipping away from him.

But it wasn’t as it appeared! The weeds weren’t actually winning. Rather, God was permanently protecting his wheat harvest with a certainty of salvation that no weeds would ever be able to suffocate or choke out. Jesus was guaranteeing a harvest on the Last Day by graciously forgiving all sin and wickedness so that no level of evil could ever overcome it.

Where sin and wickedness have been forgiven – and at the cross they have – what real power do they retain? Who really has the power when sin and wickedness have been forgviven? Christ does! His church does! You do! I do! The weeds don’t win – not so long as forgiveness reigns.

And that is where we stand: in the grace of forgiveness. Surrounded by weeds and wickedness, yes – but they can never touch God’s gracious gifts of forgiveness and salvation in which we stand. So stand in them. Remain in them. Grow in them. Don’t waste your time and attention on how bad the weeds are; focus your time and attention on how God grows and sustains his wheat. The weeds won’t stand a chance. Ask Satan – he already knows it. He just hopes that you forget it and worry more about the damage that he might do than about the saving work Jesus already did.

What a great reminder for the church to stay on mission. Its mission is not weed-whacking all of the wickedness out of the world. Its mission is to proclaim the gospel and let its light shine. Jesus thinks the potential good from doing that outweighs the potential damage of being influenced by the weeds.

Let’s not forget this. Let’s ratchet up our efforts in trusting the Word by prioritizing it in our lives. Talk is cheap, and frankly, just talking about the importance of the Word isn’t enough to keep the weeds at bay. Reading it, studying it, breathing it, living it, applying it, encouraging each other with it, building each other up with it – these are the things God’s wheat does as we await the glorious harvest. When that harvest comes on the Last Day, God will finally take care of the weeds, and he assures us that his Word-grown wheat will not be left behind, but will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v.43).

Until then Christians, live with the weeds. We aren’t called to douse them with Round-up or feverishly yank them up in hopes of solving the world’s weed problem. Instead, we let the Word do that – in both our own lives and, as it has opportunity, in their lives, too. Focus on being Word-grown wheat, and let God take care of the harvest. It just might be more plentiful than you could ever have imagined.

Word Grown

July 24, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Isaiah 55:6-11)

Based on how our food is labeled and packaged, where it comes from matters to us. Some people care more than others if their food is organic. Others want to know if it’s locally grown. Is it genetically modified? Farm grown? When someone drops by with home-grown fruit or veggies, you know it’s going to taste just a little bit better. When we’re talking about meat, plant-based or lab-grown options will continue to be a part of the discussion. We pay attention to how things are grown.

Planted by the Word.

Christians are grown, too. But there aren’t a variety of options when it comes to how Christians are grown; there is just one. Christians are Word grown. Every single one of us came to faith in Jesus Christ in one way and in one way only: through the Word.

That Word may have come in the form of a promise attached to the washing of water in baptism. That Word may have worked in us as little ones who learned Bible stories that pointed us to our Savior, Jesus. That Word may have worked repentance, forgiveness, and the joy of salvation in us as adults whose skepticisms and doubts were put to rest through Bible study or one-on-one discussions of biblical truths with a Christian. However our faith was worked in us, in each an every case, it was always worked through the Word of God. It’s how you became a Christian.

If you have faith, then, it was worked by the Word. But, why doesn’t the Word always work? Why doesn’t it always bring people to faith every time it is heard, read, or studied? We could offer any number of pretty rational or logical reasons, but at some point, there comes a time and place when we simply have to acknowledge our limitations.

Isaiah reflected on those limitations when describing God in verses 8-9. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” God is God and we are not.

While we may think it unfair or resent God for not revealing everything to us, is it prudent or realistic to presume that we should be on the same level as God? If we suppose so, is that because we are guilty of thinking so highly of ourselves or so little of God? Does he owe us an explanation or understanding of why and how he operates?

Nevertheless, just because our thoughts and ways are not on par with God’s, that doesn’t mean God has completely left us guessing as to what his thoughts and ways are. We simply rest easy in knowing the basics – that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). This truth keeps us from spending our time distracted by what we don’t know so that we can focus on what we do know: God wants all people to be saved, and the only way he saves is through the Word.

There is another explanation as to why the Word may at times appear to us to be ineffective. Sometimes, it’s because we’re not actually sowing the seed of the Word, but rather talking about it. Do you know the difference?

If it appears that my unbelieving friend’s life is coming unraveled and I point out to him that he needs Jesus in his life, have I sowed the seed of the Word? Well, not entirely. I may have taken the first step toward doing so, but at that point alone the Word has not been sown. I have made reference to a name in that Word, but the Word itself has not been sown.

Or consider your bumper sticker that says “Jesus saves.” It is true, yes. But it is incomplete and not clear enough to the point. The person reading your bumper sticker may conclude that you are a Christian, knowing enough to equate Jesus with Christianity. However, the sticker reveals nothing about who Jesus is, how he saves, who he saves, or why it matters that Jesus saves. The seed hasn’t fully been sown.

This point is not so much a criticism as a much-needed clarification. This friends, is where we can make a difference. We can be more intentional about sowing the seed rather than just talking about it. In other words, we can – and we must – make certain we are clearly communicating law (which exposes our sin) and gospel (the good news of our Savior).

A gardener can go to great lengths to till the soil and prepare it for the seed. However, once the soil has been made ready, the seed still has to be planted. If all the gardener does is tell others what great soil she has and speaks of the superior quality of seeds she has, nothing will grow. The seed must be planted. It must be sown.

In the same way, if all the gardener does after the soil has been made ready is assure others that he has plenty of good seed to plant in his fields, this, too will yield no harvest. Whether the gardener speaks of the praise of the soil or the praise of his superior seed, one thing has been left undone: the seed has not been planted in the soil. It must be sown.

Where is this seed sown? Sure, it is sown in churches, Bible classes, or classrooms by called pastors and teachers. Praise God for that sowing! But how many fields lie fallow if only pastors and teachers sow the Word in those places?

God’s vision included a far greater harvest than just those fields! He knows his Word works wherever it is sown by whomever sows it – including you. And you are qualified to do it.

You have unique relationships with non-believers. There is your soil. You also have the message of the gospel, the good news that Jesus died to save sinners. There is your seed. Sow it. Go confidently beyond the step of simply talking about the seed and sow the seed. Start with highlighting the blessings Jesus fills your own life with, and point them to how he can do the same in theirs. Plant the Word. It’s the only way others will ever come to faith.

Produce through the Word.

And do so with the confidence that it will work. Crops need rain. Some states right now are in a drought. Other states are flooding. What determines this? Rain. With all of our advancements and the amazing technologies that exist, it is such a striking reminder that we have zero control over the one thing essential to crop growth: rain. Without it, crops die. Crops need rain.

Christians need the Word. Without it, Christians die. The seed planted may sprout and grow, but if not watered by the Word, it will die. That same Word that was planted in you to bring you to faith is the thing that produces a harvest in your life and in Christ’s kingdom. The Lord promises you it will work.

Isaiah described it like this: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (v.10-11).

We sometimes make the mistake of presuming that our knowledge of the Word is adequate, that once we know it, it has done its work by providing us with the information we need to apply it to our lives. Well then, why do you continue to sin if you already know the information in the Word? You know you shouldn’t lie or steal. You know you shouldn’t get drunk. You know sex is reserved for husbands and wives alone. You know your bitterness and anger are unjustified. You know all of these things from the Word… yet you still do them. If the Word’s method of working was merely to provide information to set you on the track of holiness, I think we’d have to conclude that the Word is pretty ineffective.

But the problem is not that the Word is ineffective. Rather, the problem is that we fail to take God’s promise to heart and keep putting the Word to work. It doesn’t just work informationally – by giving us a list of do’s and dont’s; it works supernaturally, by continually crushing the sinner in us and awakening the saint.

The law keeps accusing and killing us while the gospel restores and renews us. The Spirit works supernaturally through the Word as we marvel at the reality of being baptized children of God. As we take and eat the food of forgiveness in Holy Communion. As we hear and believe the faith-fueling forgiveness announced again and again through the Word. This is not mere information; this is a supernatural transformation that the Spirit produces through the Word. In each and all of these ways the Word works in our hearts to reveal to us the endless ocean of forgiveness that completely engulfs all of our sin.

Understand then, why Isaiah gives us this encouragement: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (v.6-7). Free pardon. Mercy. These are the gifts of God earned for us through Christ and delivered to us through the Word. How could we forsake this Word, this pardon, this mercy?

Quite the opposite! Let us return to it again and again, so that this endless mercy and free pardon work in us to produce an abundant harvest in Christ’s kingdom – both in our personal lives and in the lives of others.

Do you believe it will actually work in your own life? I suppose you could keep stumbling in the same sin over and over for the rest of your life and keep justifying it to others by explaining that’s just the way you are. Or, you could allow the Word to do what it does and work supernaturally on your heart so that you experience more victories in this or that area of life, and yes, even overcome certain inclinations or temptations. That same Word builds up your faith to lean more on God on less on excusing your inadequacies and shortcomings.

Do you believe it will actually work in the lives of others? Rather than being so surprised when the Word works in the lives of others, what if we were instead more surprised when it didn’t? In other words, if we’re going to make a mistake – as if this could ever be considered a mistake – what if we over-sowed the seed? What if we assumed it would work in the lives of others who so desperately needed it that we always sowed it rather than presuming others have already heard it or would probably just reject it? The more you sow it, the more it works, and the greater the harvest.

Christian, are you budding and flourishing in your life? You can be. Test God in this and see if these words of Isaiah are actually true. See if the planted Word produces – in your life and in the lives of others. Let us embrace this central defining characteristic of what it means to be a Christian: that the Word permeates our lives and that the Holy Spirit uses it to produce and flourish in and through us.

Rest, Assured

July 20, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 11:25-30)

Spend any length of time listening to a conversation between teenagers and time yourself. See how long it takes for the blank stare to come across your face when you have no idea what they’re saying.

I am not talking about mumbling or being soft-spoken, as teenagers can often be. Rather, the words and phrases they use will likely come across as either completely foreign to you or have an entirely different meaning attached to them.

For example, it might surprise you to find out that “bussin” does not refer to a method of transportation one might take, nor does “shippin” involve how one might send a package. Preaching a “fire” sermon has nothing to do with brimstone or heavy-handed law. I know it might sound like I’m “cappin,” but I assure you I am not. That’s the “tea.”

My point? The words we use to communicate can only serve that purpose effectively if we know and understand what they mean. You’ve likely also experienced this when someone in a specific line of work explained to you what they do for a living and used words and phrases that totally flew over your head.

We can do it within Christianity, too, when we try to describe our faith using terms like redeem, atonement, justification, or sanctification – terms that are totally unfamiliar to non-Christians.

That brings us to the overall theme on which we’ll be focusing over the next several posts, Define Christian. What, exactly, does it mean to be a Christian? How do we define it? What do we mean when we use that label or identify ourselves as Christian? Does it have anything to do with politics? What does the Bible have to do with it? What is the connection between a Christian and a church? And of course, since one can see the word “Christ” in Christian, who is he and where does he fit in?

With each post, we’ll look at how God’s Word defines “Christian” by exploring teachings and truths that guide us to a clear understanding. Today we see it defined by where a Christian turns for rest.

We ought to first take the step of making sure we’re clear on our definition of “rest.” Rest, too, carries a lot of different meanings for a lot of different people. A hiker may need to stop and rest his legs and grab a drink of water at various points throughout the trail. A sick person or one recovering from surgery needs rest to allow the body to carry out its natural recovery processes. Ask someone who is sleep-deprived about the importance of being able to get good sleep or rest. Rest can also simply mean taking a break from something for a time or season in life.

So which rest do we have in mind as we determine where the Christian turns for rest?

Jesus’ personal invitation begins to clear it up for us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). There is the invitation to receive rest from Jesus. He clarifies exactly the sort of rest he has in mind in the very next verse. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (v.29). There it is. The kind of rest Jesus offers is rest “for your souls.”

How does one come to receive this kind of rest? We should first note that there are those for whom this rest will always remain out of reach. Jesus described them. “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do’” (v.25-26).

What? Two things here might catch us off guard. One, it sounds as if God deliberately keeps some people in the dark regarding his rest and certain other truths of Scripture. Two, Jesus sounds like he is on board with this, even going so far as to praise his Father for it. These two observations appear to be at odds with the character of a God who says he wants all people to be saved. Why wouldn’t God’s invitation to find rest be extended to all people?

To better understand the point, consider the result if Jesus’ words were reversed – if he had said that he praised his Father because he revealed these things to the wise and learned and kept them hidden from little children. If that were the case, then certain people – those who lacked a certain intellectual ability – would automatically be excluded. No matter how hard they tried, they’d never be able to achieve the level of wisdom and learning required for salvation. They’d never be able to understand and believe Jesus’ teaching or ever find rest in him. We would have to conclude that God isn’t genuinely interested in saving all people; he’s just interested in saving the smart ones, the ones with the heightened intellectual ability to achieve a higher level of enlightenment.

But Jesus didn’t say that. Instead, he praised the Father for revealing his truths to little children – to those with a child-like, simple trust and understanding. Therefore, to those who are too smart for their own good, who have either concluded they don’t need rest for their souls or that they don’t need Jesus to provide it for them, Jesus’ rest will always be out of reach.

However, even for them, there is always the opportunity for the wise to set aside their prideful know-it-all-ness and humble themselves to receive the rest Jesus offers like little children. So Jesus’ invitation is for all people in search of rest who have realized they won’t succeed in finding it themselves.

As we consider Jesus’ word choice in his invitation to rest, it also might strike us as odd that his invitation involves terms like “yoke” and “burden.” Those are terms that carry the idea of hard work and manual labor, not rest. Animals that share a yoke aren’t the animals resting in the barn, but rather working in the fields. So what can Jesus mean?

It’s important for us to nail down and be certain of what Jesus isn’t saying. Observe that Jesus doesn’t say his yoke is easier and his burden is lighter. In other words, Jesus isn’t inviting us to partner up with him so that it will be easier for us as long as we just do our best and he does the rest. This isn’t Jesus calling us to try our hardest to please him, to be pretty good people, with the assurance that he’ll take it from there so long as we’re yoked to him.

No, Jesus wants us to know that the reason his yoke is easy and his burden is light is because he has done it all. He has done all the heavy lifting. He has done all the hard work. He has carried out every single detail of every single requirement the Father expected. There is nothing left to be done.

Have you ever gone tubing down a river or floated around a lazy river at a resort or water park? Some find it so relaxing because once you’re parked in that tube, there is no effort required on your part. You are carrying nothing, but rather are being carried along by the tube and the flowing water. There is no burden. No weight – just a floating weightlessness that is perfectly relaxed and at peace.

So when Jesus invites us to put on that yoke and learn rest from him, it is nothing more than this: an invitation to experience complete relief from the impossible burden of trying to perfectly please God on our own. That work has been done, and Jesus is simply inviting us to benefit from it by basking in the joy of his job perfectly done.

Suppose you hired a landscaping company to overhaul your entire backyard. After several weeks of watching the crew dig and ditch and haul away and pour concrete and build and plant and all of the labor under the hot sun, they finally finish. It looks absolutely breathtaking. There you sit, cold beverage in your hand, beaming as you take in the view. Although you didn’t lift so much as a finger, let alone a shovel full of dirt or a wheelbarrow, nonetheless, you are fully enjoying the work of others.

So it is with Jesus’ rest. He has done all of the work. All of it. And his invitation is simply to come to him and bask in the results. He has fully satisfied the Father. He has fully paid for sin. He has fully prepared a place for us in heaven. There is nothing left to do but rest and enjoy the peace that is ours.

Now return briefly to that backyard project once again. While you didn’t move a muscle to contribute to that backyard that you enjoy, assuming you’re satisfied with the work, you might take a step or two to reflect that. You could provide a glowing review for the company online. You could refer them to others looking to have work done on their yards. It would be natural for you to pass along how satisfied you are with their work.

Is that any different than the rest we have in Jesus? When we are satisfied and at peace with what he provides, isn’t it natural for us to point others to the rest they can find in him? Or do you suppose they already have it? Do you suppose the couple you know who just filed for divorce already has that rest? Do you think your day-drinking friend has that rest? Does your neighbor with a new toy every other week have that rest?

Or… is it possible that those priorities in their lives are either misguided attempts at seeking alternative rest or masks covering up their real need for rest? If so, don’t miss an opening to help them understand what it means that you’re a Christian. It means that you turn to Jesus for a rest that cannot be found in anyone or anything else, a rest that is assured. A rest that is for them, just as much as it is for any one of us. Invite them, as Jesus did, to personally join to find out why we gather in this place for rest.

You may never understand the lingo that teenagers use, but you do know where to find rest. Take advantage of it. Go often to the only place where you can find rest assured: to Jesus.

Who Am I?

July 18, 2023July 17, 2023 adbLeave a comment

(Exodus 3:1-15)

I don’t imagine anyone other than Moses could really describe what it was like to see a burning bush that didn’t burn up, because I don’t know anyone other than Moses who’s ever seen it. I suppose we could picture those fake logs inside gas fireplaces, some of which look a little more realistic than others. But something tells me the experience Moses had was a little bit different than that. It must have been quite a thing to see; quite amazing to witness it. That would explain why Moses went over to investigate it a bit more.

Then, just like that, his amazement turned to terror as he realize what – or rather who – was behind it all! “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’ ‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God” (v.4-6). Moses’ curiosity shifted to cowardice in the presence of God. Holy ground in the presence of a holy God? Surely Moses thought he was doomed – as if hiding his face to avoid looking at God could somehow have spared him if God was indeed there to strike him down.

Do you remember why Moses had reason to be terrified? In an act of vigilante justice, he stepped in on behalf of a fellow Israelite and murdered an Egyptian who was mistreating him. Moses presumed there were no witnesses to his actions because he was shocked when a short time later a fellow Israelite called him out on it. In fear, he fled to Midian where he shepherded for forty years. Forty years is a lot of time to be weighed down with guilt, and now that he found himself face-to-face with a holy God, we understand why he was terrified!

Are we ever terrified of God for the same reason? Amazed at what God does, yes, but terrified? Do we shutter or shiver in the presence of God because we know his holiness and we’re well aware that he knows our unholiness? Does his holiness strike us with alarm as it also exposes our sinfulness? Do we so easily forget the ways God poured out his wrath against Israel’s sin again and again – via the earth opening up or fire consuming or plagues unleashed? God doesn’t have much time or patience for sin! Do we too easily dismiss or forget that?

It was Moses’ awareness of his sin in the presence of a holy God that led the pendulum to swing from amazement at the bush to terror.

Then, it swung back again in the other direction once God explained to Moses why he was there. “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…’” (v.7-8). Amazing! God heard the cries of his people, their misery from slavery in Egypt, and he was concerned about their suffering and was going to do something about it. Hooray! Amazing!

What a great reminder of the God we belong to! When we conclude that any suffering we experience must be an indicator that he doesn’t care all that much about us, look no further than these verses. God cares about the suffering of his people. Experiencing suffering doesn’t mean God doesn’t care; rather it’s an opportunity for him to show his care by how he chooses to deliver us through that suffering. He promised to do just that for his people in Egypt. Amazing news!

And then just as abruptly, once again the pendulum swung completely in the other direction when God revealed how he planned to rescue his people. He would do so through Moses. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (v.10).

Imagine Moses’ response! “Whoa! Hold the phone! Pump the breaks! Let me stop you right there, Lord! I’m all on board with you rescuing your people, but if you’re planning to do it through me, well, maybe slavery isn’t so bad! There’s gotta be another way.” Moses was terrified! The next phase of their dialogue involves Moses trying to convince the Lord that his rescue mission can be better carried out through someone else. Moses pulled out proof after proof that he felt should serve as more than sufficient evidence to disqualify him from any such rescue mission.

Don’t you just love Moses? Is he relatable or what? We are ecstatic about all the good things God promises and desires to carry out through his people, but when it becomes a possibility that we’re the ones he wants to carry it out through, we do our best Moses impression and provide 487 reasons why we’re not the right person for the job!

This manifests itself in all kinds of ways in the lives of those who belong to a local church. By default, we presume that someone else is a better fit than we are, either because of our own insecurity or because we forget that others didn’t always do it so well when they first started out.

Or we use the old “let’s give some new people the chance to serve,” when what we really mean is, “I’ve put in my time already and it’s someone else’s turn.”

“We’re really busy in life right now, but when things slow down we’d love to be able to do this or that.” But we forget that we’re the ones who choose all that busyness in other areas of life, and until we say no to some other things, the time that we claim to long for in service to ministry never magically seems to show up.

It’s one version or another of the same pushback Moses gave to God: “Who am I?”

And it isn’t just ministry in general where this applies, but also to our consideration of God’s possible call into the public ministry as pastors and teachers. “Who am I?” Not for me. Send others. We may not know what we want to do, but we know we want to make money, so ministry doesn’t make the cut. The hours and expectations extend well beyond the course of a school day, so I couldn’t be a teacher. I could never get up in front of people and preach a sermon, so I can’t see myself being a pastor. These and so many other concerns are different versions of the same question: “Who am I?”

How does God respond to such concerns today? The same way he did to Moses. Moses asked, “Who am I?” but God pointed out that question needs to be asked the other way around. Not “who are you, Moses,” but rather “who am I, God, the Lord?”

God might as well have been saying to Moses, “Get over yourself. Just because I am sending you, just because I am using you, does not mean you’re doing the work. It’s still MY work. I’m still the one getting it done – I just need your hands, your feet, your mouth – really just your heart, and I’ll get done what I need to through you.”

Note how many “I’s” there are in this section! Moses keeps trying to shine the spotlight on himself as a disqualifier with each excuse he leverages, but each time God turns the spotlight back to himself with one “I” after another. “‘I’ am sending you.” “‘I’ am with you.” “‘I’ am.” Not you, Moses, but I – the Lord, is where your focus ought to be.

And that makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? If we are looking for reasons to avoid carrying out the ministry God has given us – whether it be our own personal ministry as Christians or the public ministry as called workers – look no further than the mirror in front of you. Of course it’s filled with reasons or excuses that would disqualify us! If God needed us to measure up to his standards before he could actually use any of us, he’d end up empty-handed! He wouldn’t be able to use anyone!

But have you forgotten what he did to ensure that he could use everyone? He qualified everyone at the cross. There he paid for our sin. There he freed us from selfishness and pride. There he washed away our excuses and insecurities.

Because ministry, our service, is about him. He sends us. He is with us. He…is.

And that, frankly, is all we need. We remember it’s all about him from start to finish. My service to him and others is not about my service; it’s about him. My ministry in his name isn’t about my ministry; it’s about his name. My calling to fulfill his purposes isn’t about my calling; it’s about his purposes.

Ministry means keeping the emphasis in the right place. It means we can let go of the “Who am I?” and instead recall all of the wonderful answers to that question when God is the one asking it. When God reminds us to think of who he is, there is nothing that can’t be done when he’s behind it.

So go. God is sending you. Be his hands and his feet. Be his mouthpiece. Be those things and everything else he calls you to be because he is behind it. Who am I? Who are you? Instead, let’s always remember who He is.

Category: Sermons

A Self< Church

Like this:

The Church Clings to Christ

Like this:

Church Is for Everyone

Like this:

Refocusing Faith

Like this:

Don’t Doubt During the Drought

Like this:

Wealth That’s Worth It

Like this:

Wheat, Weeds, and the Word

Like this:

Word Grown

Like this:

Rest, Assured

Like this:

Who Am I?

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: