Tag: JEsus

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Opportunity to Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Thank you for the freedom and accessibility to gather for worship regularly. In the United States, it is easily taken for granted that we have an abundance of Christian churches at which we can worship. While their theology varies, the blessing of even being able to hear the Bible read is not a given in parts of the world. You also provide the freedom to worship without fear of repercussion or threat to our physical lives. Finally, you even provide multiple means of transportation that enable us to attend worship in person. Lead us to demonstrate our gratitude through our frequent attendance, and strengthen and stretch our faith through your Word as it is read, preached, and served through the sacraments.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Follow with Family

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(Ephesians 5:21-6:4)

On my last sermon post we were reminded of the importance of embracing that followership is not a solo act. As much as it might feel like it at times, as Moses experienced, we aren’t ever actually following Jesus alone. Following Jesus is done together, and our own followership is better off when we not only remember that, but also take advantage of it. That, by God’s design, is one of the great blessings of belonging to a local congregation, of having a community of believers to follow together.

But – also by God’s design – your church family isn’t even intended to be your first line of defense or system of support in following Jesus. That role belongs to your family. And, while our family makeup may vary widely from one person to the next – married or single, blended or traditional, children or no children, adopted or biological, etc. – these words from Ephesians speak to each of us wherever we’re at. That’s because in one role or another, we all belong to family. Furthermore, strong families that are faithfully following Jesus together are going to have an impact that stretches well beyond the home and into the community.

In other words, I am not just blessed by my own family following Jesus; I am blessed when yours does as well. Together, we can collectively raise the bar in our community and absolutely extend Christ’s Kingdom in the process. Let’s give our focus and attention to what that looks like, and commit to raising the bar of followership in our homes.

As we do, we encounter an unexpected plot twist, the kind of surprise that leaves our jaws open and our eyes widened. We didn’t see it coming. We couldn’t have anticipated it. It catches us completely off guard and totally changes our perception of everything.

If this section of Scripture has not yet hit you in that way, I pray that it does this time. I hope that the five words we find tucked inside these verses will leave you with a totally different perception.

Of what? Not just of marriage, but also of the church. Those five words are at the start of verse 32: “This is a profound mystery…” And, following those words are the unexpected twist that we didn’t see coming: “but I am talking about Christ and the church.” 

For those to sink in, we need to step back and revisit what it is we think Paul is writing about here. That would seem pretty obvious, wouldn’t it, just on the basis of the titles leading verses 22 and 25 – “wives” and “husbands.” OK, we’re obviously talking about families, and more specifically, the foundation of family – marriage, right? 

No. Not just marriage, anyway. Something much more profound – a mystery actually. But one that marriage helps us understand: the relationship that Christ has with the church, the connection every believer has with Jesus.

So marriage is much more than just bringing a man and a woman together to start a family; marriage helps us better understand the whole gospel that is the basis of our relationship to Christ. And our relationship to Christ, in turn, helps us better understand the blessing of marriage.

It all begins with a word that everybody loves to hate: the word “submit.” It’s a word that makes us bristle and cringe. No fallen sinner is born into this fallen world immediately seeking to place himself beneath someone else, which is what it means to submit. It’s not natural. The rebel in me refuses to envision a life that is better off when someone else tells me what to do or calls the shots!  

If we’re ever going to shift our perception of that word, it will only ever happen by linking it inseparably with the last word in the same verse: “Christ.” “Submit” and “Christ” must always remain connected, because submitting to Christ is nothing more than a faith that knows and needs what Jesus has done for us. What is that? Paul spells it out so beautifully: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (v.25-27). 

Paul helps us grasp the cleansing work of Christ by using the familiar picture of stain removal. What Jesus did for us is successfully manage to permanently remove that stain that we thought was never in a million years going to come out, no matter what trick we tried. The stain is completely gone – no remaining discoloration, not a trace of it left! 

To submit to Christ is to lay claim to everything he has done to leave me blameless and blemish-free, to have every stain of sin scrubbed out, to have every wrong washed away, and to replace my unholiness with his holiness. See how different that word submit is when connected to Christ – it makes all the difference in the world. 

Without a right understanding of it, the family fails to function as God intended. Instead of the training ground God intended family to be, it becomes a dumping ground. Husbands will twist their leadership role into a self-serving dictatorship. Wives will never see how God intends to bless them through the leadership of their husband and will continually push back against it. Children will never see how God intends to bless them through boundary-setting parents who care enough to discipline them and nurture them with law and gospel, while modeling grace in abundance. These things will be foreign to the home that does not grasp the infinite blessings – literally, by the way – of submitting to Christ. It is everything. 

When we make the connection that submission to Christ has nothing but our best interest in mind, then we can embrace the roles God has given us within the family. Now if we followed Paul chronologically in these verses, we’d start with the wives, then move on to the husbands, and wrap up with the children. But we’re going to start with the role that is foundational to all others: the husband’s role. Why does this matter? Without sounding overdramatic, everything else hinges on how the husband carries out his role. The home in which the husband succeeds in carrying out the essential role God called him to is a home that will thrive. In that home, through the sacrificial leadership of the husband, a wife and children will find the service, security and support they crave to carry out their respective roles. 

To emphasize this, I need to make a rather blunt statement: contrary to what our culture communicates, men and women are not equal.

Now that I have your attention, allow me to clarify. Here’s where they are equals. Though not there yet, men and women should be equals in terms of wage equality – whichever sex is getting the job done should be paid on the basis of job performance and not on the basis of biological sex. Men and women are equals in terms of the blessings they bring to a marriage and to the family. Men and women are equals in terms of sinner/saint status: we are sinners who need a Savior. Men and women are equals in terms of being on the receiving end of God’s love and mercy.

But where mean and women are not the same is in regard to the role and responsibility that God has given to each. Equals can have different roles. Different. Not superior and inferior. Not greater and lesser. Not demanding and demeaning. Just different. 

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord” (v.22). “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church…” (v.25). “Children, obey your parents in the Lord…” (6:1). If we were just talking about husbands and wives and children as we address marriage and family, it would be one thing. But Christians are never just talking about husbands and wives, marriage and family; we’re always talking about Jesus.

So when we talk about the roles God has given to husbands, we’re doing so in relation to Jesus. When we talk about the roles God has given to wives, we’re doing so in relation so Jesus. When we’re talking about the roles God has given to children, we’re doing so in relation to Jesus. Paul punctuates that point in these verses by anchoring the respective responsibilities of each family member to Jesus! Whenever Paul lays out what we are to be doing within the family, every time he does so with respect to our faith in Jesus! We’re never “just” serving family, but always following and serving Jesus as we do so!

Consider why we are drawn to Jesus when our eyes have been opened to the Bible’s teaching of law and gospel, that we sin and need saving. Are we drawn to Jesus because of what he demands of us or because of what he had done for us? Does Jesus appeal to us because of the obedient life he demands from us or because of the innocent life he gave for us? There is no discussion or debate – we willingly follow Jesus and submit to him because of what he did for us. And both husbands and wives then carry out their respective roles as submissive head and submissive helper, not because the spouse has earned it by perfectly carrying out their role, but because Jesus did. We submissively serve our family because Jesus submissively served us.

Another way of saying it? As we focus on our roles within the family, we aren’t focusing on what the other family members are or aren’t doing to determine how we’ll carry out our roles. In fact, we aren’t even focusing on grading ourselves in carrying out our respective roles. No, we’re focusing on how perfectly and beautifully Jesus carried out his role for all of us, freeing us to find joy – not drudgery – in our respective roles, as we follow Jesus with and through our family. 

Following Together

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(Numbers 11:1-29)

“You’re not together!” If you’re sitting in a room of instrumentalists playing a certain musical piece and you here those words, it probably means not everyone is playing at the same tempo, which throws off the musical piece considerably. A coach yelling those words to his team is lamenting the lack of teamwork as players are too focused on their personal stats or showcasing their individual skills instead of putting the team first.

As God looks over his church, he might say the same thing as he watches Satan isolate believers and pull off one successful attack after another. So we want to see that our “followership” of Jesus is something that is best carried out together. Yes, we know we are never alone because of God’s promise to be with us to the very end of the age, but let’s also understand that many times God shows up and keeps that promise through fellow believers as we follow Jesus together.

It doesn’t sound like “together” is the word Moses would have used to describe how he was feeling in Numbers 11. Leadership is often lonely, and that loneliness was being exacerbated by all of the constant griping of God’s people. Take note of the effect of all the grumbling and complaining. It is not harmless! “The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled” (v.10).

It ought to be enough for us to see how the Lord feels about it. Complaining is never really about what we’re lacking physically as much as it is a spiritual issue. What it shows to be lacking spiritually is gratitude for what God has given us. We complain when we forget that 1) we deserve nothing from God and 2) we aren’t getting the consequences we actually deserve from God. But when we remember those things, are we in a place of gratitude instead of grumbling. Oh, and if you aren’t sure how God really feels about complaining, check out the first three verses at the beginning of this chapter to see how God had just finished his own little pyrotechnic show to demonstrate how he feels about ingratitude!

But we see that God wasn’t the only one affected by Israel’s complaining; it troubled Moses, too. How much? It’s not hard to determine how heavily it weighed on him when we hear Moses’ emotional plea to God. He was fed up and beat down by all the complaining, so much so that he actually asked God to mercifully end his life instead of having to keep dealing with it all!

This is not Moses joking around with God while rolling his eyes at those slow-to-learn Israelites! This is Moses, struggling with a degree of depression that honestly considered dying as the preferred option to having to continue putting up with incessant ingratitude. So the next time you think your grumbling and complaining are no big deal, remember this account. Consider how much it sets God off in anger, but also how much damage it does to those around you.

If that was the only takeaway from this account that we’d leave with, we’d all still be better off for it. But that isn’t even the most memorable part. No, that comes in how God chooses to respond. God delights in deliverance, and he often reveals that not only by not punishing us in ways that we’d actually deserve, but in giving us more than we even complained about or asked for!

God’s solution for Moses might at first seem odd to us. He directed Moses to round up seventy of the leaders from camp and have them gather at the place where God interacted with his leaders in camp, at the tent of meeting. Once there, God came directly to Moses and “he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied–but did not do so again” (v.25). The people complained about the lack of variety they had in their diet, and God did them even better: he fed them his Spirit, pouring out his Word on his people through prophecy.  

Still today God provides for his people by feeding them with his Word. This is how he deals with his people in the richest way – through his Word. There is no greater gift that can be given. There is no greater gift that can be received.

Yet how do we often receive it? With the same ingratitude that got the Israelites in trouble. We complain. “Just the Word? Just worship? Just passages and promises in a book? Is that it, God? I’d actually appreciate it more if you fixed my health issues. Can’t you find me the one I get to spend my life with instead? Just provide the financial cushion to pay my bills and get ahead. Make my friends like me. Give me a better job. Can’t I have a bigger house?” 

Just like the Israelites, we forget where we came from. They remembered the Egyptian food being flavorful and savory, while forgetting the cost that came with it: labor and slavery. We take for granted how good we have it as God’s chosen people, forgetting how lost we were before him. How easily we forget that we were once heading for the ugly eternal torment waiting for all who are not in Christ Jesus! Distracted and disoriented by our disillusion, we don’t want more of the Word, but more of the world. 

But when dealing with us through his Word, God is dealing with us in the richest way possible. There is no greater gift that can be given. Though the promises revealed through this Word are free and for everyone, they came at a great cost to God, who could only offer them for the price of his only Son. Woven together with the gift of his Son are countless other gifts free for the taking: serenity that flows from peace with God, uplifting hope anchored to an absolutely certain future, unconditional love lavished on us without limit, full forgiveness for all wrongs – past, present, and future, no matter how great or small – that cannot be found elsewhere.

This is but a small sample size of the enduring gifts God showers on us through his Word! That’s why this Word is preached and taught in churches, so that those gifts can be accessible all day long, every day, to everyone who has it. This is how God deals with his people in the richest way possible – through his Word.

And he does so in abundance! It wasn’t just the seventy elders who received the Spirit; there were two more who hadn’t shown up at the tent of meeting who were running about the camp prophesying here, there, and everywhere.

Since that wasn’t part of the plan God had revealed, others took issue with it and came to Moses to alert him. “A young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, ‘Moses, my lord, stop them!’” (v.27-28). Who were these rogue individuals and what were they doing? 

As it turned out, they were doing exactly what God wanted them to do. Moses, rather than being insecurely threatened by them, had the kind of response we’d expect of the man referred to in the Bible as the most humble man on earth. “But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (v.29). He wasn’t jealous or worried at all, but rather thrilled to see the Holy Spirit at work in such a powerful and visible way!

Quite a turnaround from the same individual who just a short time ago had been pleading for God to mercifully end his life rather than have to continue putting up with all the complaining! Here he was rejoicing at how God had come to his aid by surrounding him with so many Spirit-filled followers. Moses wasn’t alone. 

Notice how God deals with his people. He didn’t just give his people a gift far greater than food when he gave them his Word, prophesied in a special way. He also gave Moses hope – a reminder that he wasn’t alone in leading God’s people. God revealed his intention of providing help for Moses in anointing the seventy: “They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone” (v.17). God’s people were served with his Word. Moses was uplifted and encouraged.

Oh, and God wasn’t done just yet. He also gave them the meat they were complaining about… and not in miserly fashion! God was going to provide for them, and then some, all while teaching them a lesson in the process. He told Moses to pass this along to the Israelites: “Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!’ Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” (v.18-20). What a reminder to be careful of what you complain about!

Moses was feeling lonely. God intervened in multiple ways to address the complaining while also providing for his people. For Moses, God provided a meaningful reminder that he wasn’t serving the Lord alone. As the Lord led them all through the wilderness to the land he had promised them, they followed together. 

I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting God to take the same approach in reminding you that you aren’t alone, but you don’t have to look very far to see that you’re never really following Jesus alone. Look around and see those gathered together in worship on a Sunday morning. One of the goals in the congregation I serve is carried out through the ministry of our school: we share with parents the same goal of helping our children follow their Savior together. That goal is reflected in the stated purpose of our school: “Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran School strives to educate students while developing the God-given talents of the total student – spiritually, intellectually, physically, and emotionally – in a caring Christ-centered community.” That last phrase, “Christ-centered community,” is a reminder that we are following Jesus together. 

That blessing extends beyond the walls of the classroom and into our congregation. Many know the blessing of being a part of a local congregation, a group of fellow followers walking in Jesus’ footsteps together. If you don’t, know that you are welcome to be a part of our family of believers so that you are well aware that you never follow Jesus alone, but always together, with others who rejoice in having been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus our Savior.

Stumbling Humbly

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(Mark 9:30-37)

When it comes to following Jesus, we like to imagine our path is a pretty smooth and straight forward one. Like long distance runners in an olympic race, making their way around the track who knows how many times, once the race sets in the runners tend to fall in line, one after the other, behind the leader who sets the pace lap after lap. For the most part the race is uneventful until perhaps the end when runners jockey for that first place position ahead of the finish line.

However, it is much more likely that our race looks like the hurdler whose foot barely caught the hurdle just enough for him to stumble to the ground. He gets up to finish the race, but as he does, his noticeable limp and slower pace hamper him the rest of the way. He still finishes, but not in the form he had hoped or trained for for so long.

Following Jesus is not the smooth, perfectly paced race any of us would like to imagine ourselves having. It’s a stumble here and a fall there – sometimes even wandering off the track until we’re coached back on! Ironically, the very thing that blinds us to seeing how messy our race is as we follow Jesus is also one of the greatest causes of our messy race: our pride. In fact, pride isn’t interested in following anyone, but presumes that we ought to be the ones in the lead and everyone else ought to be following us! That’s why we struggle mightily with pride; it is never content to follow, but always thinks it should be out in front. 

Isn’t that really what happens when two people go back and forth over whether or not something was said? Rather than one person killing that foolishness with a simple, “I thought I had mentioned it, but I may be wrong, sorry,” or “You may have said it and I was distracted or just missed it, sorry,” neither side backs down, because pride insists on being out in front.

Isn’t pride also what really leads to political arguments? It’s not really about the candidate at all. Much more important is letting the other side know that their stupidity is responsible for their “wrong” vote and my superiority is to account for my “right” vote.

Pride has another nasty side. It is also pride that can debilitate me with worry or anxiety over everyone’s opinion of me. I become so convinced in my own head that everyone else must have thoughts or opinions about me all the time, instead of realizing I’m actually not even on their radar. And isn’t it pride that also results in depression? Even if I may legitimately be the victim of something hurtful, I remain in that role and convince myself that no one likes me and everyone is against me, and I always draw the short straw, making sure that my focus the whole time is on… me. 

That’s what pride does! It’s so self-absorbed that all of this talk of following anyone else, even Jesus, is utter nonsense to the natural pride-filled self. But if God can open our eyes to see what a stumbling mess our lives are, then maybe we could learn to follow him more humbly.

In Mark 9, God does just that. As we see ourselves in the disciples, our hope is that we learn from Jesus’ lesson to them. May Jesus’ humble service to and for us start to be reflected more and more through us as we follow him! 

Two incidents in the verses from Mark show how much room we have to grow. First, note that the disciples didn’t ask for more clarification when Jesus prophesied his death and resurrection. Imagine how different the Easter narrative might have been if they had!

If they had taken the time to ask Jesus to spell it out for them so they could understand exactly what he was telling them, the first Easter Sunday would have taken an entirely different tone. In place of uncertainty and fear and confusion, the believers might have been filled with excited expectation, anticipation, and pure elation. “Yes, it was a bitter pill to see the Savior die, but it had to happen just as he said it would, and now we can’t wait to see him again in just three days!” If they had had that kind of Easter understanding, how different the celebration of Easter would be in our day!

But why didn’t that ever happen? Because they were too proud. They lacked humility. As you read Mark, it may not sound like that initially, but let’s dig a little deeper. After Jesus had predicted his death and resurrection for them, Mark explained, “But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it” (v.32).

Sounds pretty harmless and totally relatable. We’ve all been there. We don’t want to look dumb by asking a foolish question. We don’t get something, we don’t understand it, but rather than seeking out greater understanding, we remain ignorant. Students do this in the classroom. Grownups do it in the workplace. We don’t fully grasp something, but we fail to ask about it out of a fear of looking stupid.

While we’re inclined to sympathize for the person in that situation, what’s really the underlying issue? What are we really saying when we admit that we’re afraid of looking stupid or foolish? We’re saying, “That would hurt my pride, so I’d rather not do that. I am more concerned about other people’s opinion of me than I am about seeking clarification or understanding. I can’t very well have others thinking less of me, because that would wound my pride too much. I think too much of myself to let others think less of me.”

Then, to take it to another level, remember that it’s Jesus – omniscient Jesus, all-knowing Jesus – in the picture. The disciples weren’t going to fool him! He knows thoughts and what is in the heart, so in refraining from asking for understanding, they couldn’t hide anything – including their pride – from Jesus.

The disciples’ lack of humility revealed itself again immediately following that incident. When they got to where they were staying, Jesus asked them, “‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest” (v.33-34). Jesus’ question was like that of the father interrogating the child he already knows is guilty. He wasn’t looking for information as much as a confession, an admission of wrongdoing. The most shocking part? “They kept quiet…”

Can you imagine Jesus asking you a question and… not answering?!? That’s hard enough to do to a teacher, a parent, or a boss, but to not respond when the Son of God asks you a question?!? Whoa! What could possibly cause these faithful followers to clam up and close their lips when Jesus Christ asked them a question? 

Guilt. Guilt sewed their lips shut. And what was the cause of their guilt? “…because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest” (v.34). The other Gospels provide us with some details about the subject matter surrounding their “who’s the greatest” debate. But we also know they were just on the Mt. of Transfiguration, so the three from Jesus’ inner circle – Peter, James, and John – certainly must have had a leg up on the competition, at least in their own minds. And even when we’re told the other disciples took issue with their arguing over who was the greatest, their concern only revealed a lack of humility, for each one of them surely thought he deserved to be a part of such a debate! 

What mattered more than their pride-puffing resumes, however, was bursting their bubble and teaching them that followers of Jesus value humility over pride.

But before we sit in on Jesus’ teaching on humility, let’s recall why humility is such a big deal in God’s eyes in the life of the Christian as he follows Jesus. It is more than a noble virtue to pursue. It is not just another way for the Christian to let his light shine in a world overpopulated with pride. No, humility is big in God’s book because our whole relationship with him is based on it. 

Without humility, there can be no submission to God. Where humility is absent, so is the willingness to listen to and apply the Word of God. Where pride reigns supreme, it views Jesus not as Lord or Master, but as servant. Where pride is present, I call the shots and expect God to operate according to my plans and purposes, and should he choose not to, then my pride has no time for him. Pride remains blind to everything God has done for me because it refuses to see my need for it.

Now then, knowing that Jesus was fully aware of his disciples’ pride as well as our own, do you see the grace that is seeping through the words Jesus spoke? He said, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise” (v.31). Jesus knew their pride and ours. It was not hidden from him.

Yet it changed nothing. The plan did not change because of man’s pride that would potentially disregard the very sacrifice and resurrection Jesus predicted; rather pride was exactly why the plan stayed the same!

Pride – our pride – was precisely why the Son of man had to be handed over, tortured, and murdered. Our pride needed to be pinned to the cross and paid for. So Jesus did that for us. Jesus, knowing the hearts and minds of men who think they know better than the heart and mind of God, still died. In Jesus Christ, God, whose perfection alone would justify pride, traded it willingly for perfect humility, putting himself beneath every insubordinate sinner, to offer salvation for all people.

That sacrificial act of holy humility changes us. It changes how we follow Jesus. So we eagerly want to hear what Jesus has to say about humility.

To teach that point, Jesus used a little kid. Jesus explained, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (v.35-37). If we are to understand Jesus’ point, we have to let go of our society’s modern-day view of children that elevates the role of the child to what amounts to being the head of the household. Many parents today are more concerned about catering to their children than they are about parenting them.

In Jesus’ day, children were viewed quite differently. They were another mouth to feed and a body to clothe. Children were viewed as a liability, not an asset. So Jesus was essentially telling the disciples that humility was looking up to those on whom society looked down. It was putting self lower than those we naturally tend to place ourselves over. Humility was not “me first,” but “you first.”

See your followership of Jesus the way it really is and not as you pretend it to be. It’s messy. We’re going to stumble more often than not. But rather than trying to hide it or cover it up, embrace it as the humble reminder of how much we all need Jesus. Then, leaving our pride more and more in the rearview mirror, let’s stumble humbly as we continue to follow Jesus together. 

Are You Waging a Winnable War?

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(Ephesians 6:10-18)

A few years ago a movie came out that was based on a true story. The movie, Operation Mincemeat (2021), focused on the allied effort of a team trying to convince the Germans of a fake location where the allied invasion would take place. The group concocted a plan to dress up a corpse as a soldier who would be staged to wash ashore and be discovered by the Germans, carrying what would be bogus plans of a fake invasion. If the Germans were to fall for the deception, they would be forced to allocate a considerable portion of their army and resources to the false front, thereby cutting back on the amount of resistance the allies would face at the real point of invasion. The plans for misdirection and deception were intended to give the allies an upper hand over their enemies.

Similar tactics are very effectively still pulled off in war today. Many battles are lost because of it. Many die as a result – all because of misdirection and deception. One side is convincing the other to prepare to fight a battle on a fake front, which is nothing but a distraction from the real war.

And you know, don’t you, because of the verses from Ephesians, that I am not referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine, or ongoing hostilities between Israel and Palestine, or any potential conflict involving China. I am referring to a battle that has much more at stake – the battle for souls. And, so that we don’t lose sight of the gravity of the situation, let’s be more specific: the battle for your soul. And Satan will attempt to pull off any strategy he can to win.

When we talk about all this spiritual warfare stuff, it’s rather easy for us to focus our attention on lost souls and be convinced that the battle is really about them. But do you think that’s where the primary focus of the enemy’s strategy is? Put yourself in his shoes as the tactician fighting this battle for souls. Where do you direct the bulk of your resources? Are they going to go toward the lost souls already being held in the concentration camp of unbelief? No! You’ve already got them! It doesn’t require the same amount of resources to keep them contained in unbelief as it does to go after the believing souls you’re trying to kill or capture. 

So the bulk of the Satan’s resources aren’t being directed at unbelievers, who are already his, but at you, believer, the one he is determined to make his. And, if you want to make his job easier, Paul provides a battle plan for you to ignore to help ensure your spiritual downfall. If you want to help the enemy, Satan, win, simply ignore Paul’s advice in these three ways: Rely on your own strength. Pass up God’s protection. Fight the wrong enemy. If you can just do those three things, Satan will gladly count you as an ally.

The first part of Paul’s battle plan Satan wants you to ignore is in verse 10. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Set that aside and disregard it, because an ally of Satan doesn’t need the Lord’s help. You’ve got this on your own. You’re good to go. After all, check out our resume, right?

As we look back over the course of our lives and consider our win/loss record against temptation, we imagine ourselves to have a pretty solid record. When we trust in ourselves and in our mighty power, temptation doesn’t stand a chance, does it? We simply determine not to do that ever again. We tell ourselves this is going to be the last time we sin that sin, and just like that, we’ve conquered it. We resolve to do the right thing when in a similar situation next time, and to hold our tongue and filter what comes out, and once we make the decision to do these things, it’s as good as done, right? Because we don’t need the Lord or his mighty power when we’ve got more than enough of our own mighty power…

Honestly, that’s hard to even type with a straight face! When we rely on our own power to overcome temptation or to make progress in our lives of sanctification, the only thing we get better at… is lying to ourselves. We acquire spiritual amnesia and lose track of how many times we’ve already told ourselves “never again” to that sin. We drum up an imaginary win/loss record that pretends we have far more wins than losses. No, when we rely on ourselves, we only get better at lying and we ultimately lose. 

Remember the same guy that wrote these words from Ephesians is the guy that opened up about this very struggle in the seventh chapter of his letter to the Romans. When he relied on himself, even though he knew what he was supposed to do, he couldn’t, and what he knew he was supposed to avoid, he couldn’t. That’s what happens when we rely on ourselves. So to keep Satan’s job easy, rely on your own strength. 

Second, in addition to relying on your own strength, make sure you ignore more of Paul’s battle plan from Ephesians by passing up God’s protection. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (v.11). It’s quite a list of armor with which Paul follows these words, isn’t it? But you know what? I bet all of that gear for spiritual warfare is probably pretty heavy to be carrying around all the time, so you’re likely better off without it! And never mind the fact that Paul repeats his encouragement to put on the armor right before he lists it all for us, as if to emphasize how important it is.

I mean, really, does anyone even know what Paul’s talking about with all of this spiritual armor stuff? How does one actually even wear a belt of truth or breastplate of righteousness? A shield of faith? A helmet of salvation? The sword of the Spirit? This all sounds nice and poetic for a spiritual picture, but what real, practical good could any of this do, assuming we could ever even figure out exactly what Paul is talking about?

Nah – who needs to read the Bible regularly when you know it as well as you do? Who needs to go to church when you’ve got the service pattern down so well that you can pretty much anticipate what’s going to be said before it’s even spoken? When you know the teachings of the Bible so well, who needs to carry all of that armor unnecessarily into a conversation with someone who is well-versed in challenging your Christian faith? And, when your faith is already an issue for an unbelieving spouse or family member, the last thing you want to do is offend them by lugging around a bunch of spiritual armor that’s only going to make them feel more uncomfortable and awkward. Besides, surely you know the basics well enough and better than they do. Yes, just keep Satan’s job easy and pass up God’s protection.     

Third and finally, Satan really appreciates it when you exert the bulk of your energy fighting the wrong enemy. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v.12). Forget the spiritual war that is going on beneath the surface and be sure to just focus on the flesh and blood individuals, organizations, or parties that are the real enemies.

After all, the spiritual decay of our country is not nearly as big a an issue as who is in the White House. Putting down the opinionated celebrity who has brainwashed so many followers should really be our number one job. Your constant fighting and bickering with the same individual? That isn’t really a spiritual issue as much as it is a personality conflict. And, if we can just wake up the woke, we can win the war.

As if we weren’t already making his job easy enough as it is by relying on our own strength and passing up the protection God provides, let’s essentially hand Satan the victory by focusing on fighting the wrong enemy. 

Dear friends, please understand the seriousness of what is at stake. Anyone ignoring any combination of those three approaches is not waging a winnable war. To put it more bluntly, you will lose. Not maybe. Not possibly. Not a slim chance of loss. No, you will lose the war that is being waged right now and tomorrow and the next day. And what is at stake is your soul. 

Would it help if I listed by name some of the casualties who have lost that war? Not the name of someone who knows someone who knows someone else. Not statistics from other churches more willing to compromise on the Bible’s teachings. No, I mean the names of individuals who have in the same seats you sit in on a Sunday morning. Individuals who at one time confessed both their sins and their faith in Jesus. Individuals who at one time beamed brightly in the joy of their salvation right here in your midst. Individuals who heard the same stuff you do week in and week out. Individuals who have since been lost, because they weren’t waging a winnable war.

At some point they began to rely on their own strength, passed up God’s protection, or focused on the wrong enemy, and Satan captured them. They are now POWs in his camp, and if nothing changes, that’s where they will remain for eternity. That isn’t a scare tactic. That’s the reality of the war going on right now. That’s how serious it is.

So when a sister in Christ cares enough about you and your spiritual battle to check in on you when you’ve been absent from worship, don’t blow her off. When your pastor reaches out to you to personally invite you to Bible study, don’t keep coming up with a new excuse each week of why it won’t work this week, but pretend that next week should work better. When we talk about the blessing of personal daily devotions, make an effort to make it work, and stick with it when you fall short. When there’s an opportunity to use your unique gifts in a meaningful way to serve your church family, jump at it, so that it might serve to remind you that none of us is waging this war alone. We have each other, the body of Christ.

Most importantly, we have Christ himself.

And if there is one thing we never want to forget, let it be this: in him we have already won. In him we have the victory. The prophet Isaiah promised it would come. “The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies” (Is. 42:13). The Lord WILL triumph!

I won’t ruin Operation Mincemeat by telling you if the Germans fell for it or not. If you haven’t already, you can watch it and find out for yourself.

But one ending that is never in question, never uncertain, is the victory we have in Jesus. What Isaiah promised, Jesus provided through his life, death, and resurrection. “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). The war has been won! Do not be deceived by Satan. Do not allow him to convince you to jump ship from the winning side to the side that already lost. Are you waging a winnable war? You are when you follow the Victor who already won the war for you. 

Power with Purpose

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(Mark 7:31-37)

While there may be a variety of different qualities that followers look for in leaders, one thing that leaders have in common is that they hold some measure of power. The exercise of power can be demonstrated in different ways. It can refer to the heavy influence or sway a leader has over his followers, like a cult leader, for example. That is a different kind of power than that which comes from one’s access to and command over military might and weapons. Nations can rise or fall on the basis of this kind of power. Power is also associated with the authority that allows its bearer to implement decisions or determine direction for groups. The CEO of a company has more power than the new hire sharing a cubicle with other employees in one of many departments within that company. In some capacity, leaders have power.

What that power is used for depends on the leader. The cult leader, for example, does not have a favorable track record for using his power in a positive way. A leader with military power could go either way, coming to the aid of nations being wrongly attacked or defending his own nation with that power, or he could abuse that power and be the one wrongly attacking others. The CEO in that position of power can turn around a failing company or be the reason a thriving company falls apart. How a leader’s power is managed, for good or bad, depends on the leader. 

Followers of Jesus during his life here on earth saw his power. And they saw Jesus use his power for good. If you were there with Jesus to witness the event described in the verses from Mark 7, there is no room for debate over whether Jesus used his power for the man’s good. When a man who couldn’t speak or hear can suddenly do both, that’s a good thing. “At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly” (v.35). Even those present recognized Jesus used his power for a good purpose. “People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak’” (v.37).  

This lines up with most of the miracles of Jesus recorded for us in the Bible. He used his power for good. The small contingent who might have disagreed would have been the Pharisees, especially when Jesus had the audacity to heal on the Sabbath. But as we saw in the previous post, the issue they had was not really with Jesus, but with their own hearts.

As we look at this miracle and the miracles of Jesus in general, we want to make sure we also understand the purpose of this power. What role did miracles play? Why was Jesus able to perform them? Why did he choose to? Understanding the right answers to questions like these determines whether or not we’re following Jesus for the right reasons.

We also have to factor in something else: our own attraction to power. After all, followers are drawn to leaders with power for different reasons. As much as we like to imagine our reasons being altruistic and noble, that isn’t always the case. There is value in being connected to those with power: they can do things for us. We want to be in good standing with the powerful because it could help our cause or work out in our favor one way or another. 

Why does all of this make a difference in our role as followers of Jesus? It has everything to do with our expectations of him and whether or not those will be met. It is what determines Jesus’ role in my life as well as my relationship with him. If you are drawn to Jesus today because of his power to heal or bless or turn a person’s life around, your followership may very well be short-lived. Why? Because what Jesus chose to do in someone else’s life he may not choose to repeat in yours. 

The sickness that he is able to heal? He may not heal it. The relationship that he is able to mend? He may not mend it. The job that he is able to provide? He may not provide it. The wrong against us that he could right? He may not right it. 

And if we’re not ready for that, our world might be rocked to when Jesus doesn’t direct his power to fix our lives in the way we expect him to. And it’s never because he’s incapable of doing it; but he may choose not to for reasons we could never know. 

Do you wonder if, at the scene of any of Jesus’ miracles recorded for us in Scripture, there were other individuals with the same physical limitation, the same sickness, the same chronic pain… who weren’t healed? Jesus didn’t heal, cure, or alleviate the aches and pains of all people, in every situation. Therefore, it’s not just possible, but probable that when Jesus did perform miracles, there were others present who didn’t get to experience his power working the same miracle in their lives. 

Ouch! That realization stings a bit. It’s one thing to stand in awe of the amazing miracles he did perform, but when we consider all of the additional miracles that could have happened but didn’t, it might shift our view of Jesus slightly. That’s why it matters that we rightly understand the purpose behind his power. 

What’s more, if I am following Jesus with a misunderstanding of the purpose of his power, I am also likely to lead others to him for the wrong reasons. This doesn’t just happen on an individual basis, but can happen in churches and ministries, too. When the main emphasis is on wealth and wellness or healing or even manifestations of the Spirit’s work, others are being drawn to the wrong purpose behind Jesus’ power.

Yes, he can do all those things, and may choose to, but I have no authority on my own, nor any promise from Scripture, that permits me to guarantee to others how God will choose to act on their behalf. When we assure others of wealth or wellness, healing or some special manifestation of the Holy Spirit, we have crossed the line and, regardless of our intentions, have become false teachers. We are making assurances that we have no business making. We are speaking with an authority we do not have.

So what is the right reason to follow Jesus and the power he has? His miraculous power to heal was just the tip of the iceberg. We rightly grasp the purpose of Jesus’ power by holding on to the cross. As much as Jesus’ miracles highlighted his power and revealed his compassion and care for the sick and suffering, he had his sights set on something far superior: your salvation.

Jesus came to play the long game. While he could certainly wield his mighty power in ways that would increase our quality of life for several decades on earth, what good would that really be if that was all the time he could spend with us, and after those decades, the sentence for our sin would set in, and we would be cut off from him for the rest of eternity in hell because of it? No, Jesus wanted more than just a few good years or decades with us on earth while making everything hunky dory for us; he wanted to never to have to turn away from the crown of his creation.

For that reason, he wanted the power of his miracles to draw our attention to him so that we could see something far more powerful. His perfect life lived in the place of sinners. His innocent crucifixion died in the place of sinners. His resurrection, raised for the eternal life of sinners. Those powerful realities stand out on their own above everything else simply because of their monumental nature! But, what makes them even more powerful is that their impact reaches out to and counts for every sinner who has ever lived. 

Everyone. Regardless of the size of the sin. Regardless of the frequency of the sin. Regardless of the powerful damage any sin may have caused. Regardless of your sin and my sin. Hands down, the absolute greatest exercise of Jesus’ power is that he definitively delivered us from hell and declares us to be forgiven and perfectly pure in his sight.

So as impressive as any of his powerful miracles were, they served only as attention grabbers so that no one would miss out on the real show of power on the cross, where our Savior willingly gave himself for sinners, forgiving our sins and claiming us as his own forever. For that reason, nothing must ever distract from or conceal the cross. Ever.

That may help us understand why Jesus said what he did after he performed this miracle. “Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone” (v.36). When power comes into the picture, as was pointed out earlier, we are selfishly drawn to it for the wrong reasons initially. We are too easily concerned with what it can do for us here and now. Jesus knew that the more people heard about his jaw-dropping miracles, the more people would come to him in search of jaw-dropping miracles. And that desire for the jaw-dropping miracles that were all temporary and worldly would for many cloud the greater miracles that are eternal and heavenly: the miracles of forgiveness, of salvation, of eternal life. These realities could come only by the power of the cross. May we never forget or forsake its powerful purpose.

Stop Following Your Heart

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(Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)

Strong leadership is always going to be extremely valuable. Prior to COVID, an estimated $370 billion was spent on leadership training. Successful companies include leadership training in their annual budgets, and for good reason. It has been estimated that the ROI for leadership training is $7 for every $1 spent. Strong leadership can often be the difference between an organization flourishing or floundering. 

Companies and organizations aren’t the only entities who value strong leaders; so does God. Throughout history, God has raised up strong leaders to guide and direct his people and to oversee his church. Joseph’s leadership skills saw him rise to being the second most powerful man in all of Egypt, which God used to bless Joseph’s family and the establishment of his chosen people, the Israelites. God used Moses’ leadership skills to confidently challenge Pharaoh face to face and to navigate the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and journey to the Promised Land. David’s leadership skills showed themselves in war and in worship as God used him to rule over his people. Paul’s leadership skills in relentlessly sowing the seeds of the gospel through his mission trips and church planting could not be questioned. God has always raised up strong leaders to serve his people. And each of those strong leaders also share another quality that had as much to do with their successful leadership as anything else: they were exceptional followers.

While leadership is valued tremendously in the world, not as much is made about the importance of following well. In Christ’s church, however, it is essential. In fact, with Jesus Christ as our Savior-leader, the head of his church, a case could be made that the church never has a leadership problem as much as she has a followership issue. Where the church struggles or stumbles, it is not a lack of leadership or direction – our Good Shepherd provides that. Rather, it is a lack of faithful following or downright foolish following on the part of the sheep (and those leading the sheep). So as we work through this series, The Need for Followership, with the Lord himself as our leader, we pray for the Spirit to raise us up as strong followers.

If we are to grow in our capacity as followers, the church is a great place to start, because the world’s track record when it comes to equipping people to follow is rather poor. I base this conclusion on what is some of the worst – and sadly most widespread – advice that’s out there: just follow your heart. This is bad advice for a number of reasons; here are three of them.

First, it’s emotionally driven. It’s feelings-based. Now feelings aren’t bad, but making decisions based on them is unwise. Why? Because they change. Every one of us here has experienced the regret of having done or said something in the heat of the moment that was entirely emotionally driven. Later, when we weren’t as emotionally charged, we found ourselves having to do damage control for a situation that would have never gotten out of hand if we had not let our emotions get the better of us. So “just follow your heart” is bad advice because being emotionally healthy means managing your emotions rather than letting them manage you and your decisions.

The second reason “just follow your heart” is bad advice is because it’s driven by selfishness. True, while the decision you are likely struggling to make primarily affects you, it almost never only affects you. People belonging to God realize that we are here to love and serve our neighbors. That means we give consideration to how our decisions affect our neighbors. We don’t just dismiss or disregard others in making decisions, but like Jesus, consider the needs of others even before ourselves. So “just follow your heart” is also bad advice because it doesn’t take into account how my decision may affect others, what serves the common good, or what my neighbor needs from me (side note: ironically, as we lament the lack of social concern and compassion for others in out society, is it any wonder where this is coming from when we encourage everyone to follow their own heart and do what is best for themselves?).

The final reason “just follow your heart” is bad advice is that your heart is a horrible navigation system! There are plenty of navigation apps out there: Google, Apple, Waze, and others. We all have the one we like for a number of personal reasons. But I can bet you this: no one would keep using a navigation app that gave them the wrong directions 100% of the time. To keep relying on that source for direction or guidance would be foolish! 

In his interaction with the Pharisees from Mark 7, Jesus seeks to show them how misguided the heart is as a navigation system. Jesus peels away their outer veneer of venerability and exposes the real issue.

The Pharisees always serve as a good reminder for us of what happens when religion becomes a platform for performance. They had a reputation for adhering to rules and fancied themselves so good at it that they made up extra ones, a good number of which were traditions handed down from previous generations. Having become so wrapped up in themselves and enamored with each other’s daily displays of righteousness, they would immediately recognize when other supposedly religious folks dropped the ball in observing this custom or that rule. 

So when the disciples, dared to eat food without ceremoniously washing beforehand, the Pharisees jumped all over it. They were caught red-handed! Their hands were defiled! How dare they! Eating with your hands and not ceremoniously cleaning them first was a big no-no in their book.

Not out of compassion or caring concern, but because they were interested in discrediting Jesus as a respected rabbi by pointing out what a disgrace his disciples were, they called Jesus out. “So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” (v.5).

Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees gets to the root of the issue. Look at the source of their concern. They did not reference the Law or the Prophets – the Word of God available to them in their day – but rather “the traditions of the elders.” Their man-made rules carried more weight than the God-given words of Scripture.

Jesus responded quite differently, not referencing man-made traditions, but highlighting the Word of God by quoting one of its prophets. “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules’” (vs. 6-7). They had come to Jesus convinced that his disciples were in the wrong, but Jesus would make sure they didn’t depart without knowing how wrong they were. Jesus showed them something they needed to see. The issue was not the outward failures of his disciples, but the inward flaw in their own hearts. 

In quoting Isaiah, Jesus also has something to say to us. How does one honor God with lips while hearts drift far away from him? That’s what happens when we are going through the motions. Two people can both show up on a Sunday morning, and one is there to pay lip service to God while the other is there, longing to be served by God and to praise God from a heart of faith. I can do the things God calls me to do as mere obligation rather than opportunity to love, serve, and thank him. I can render my service begrudgingly because no one else will do it or I can render my service gratefully because I get to do it. I can support gospel ministry with my offerings because I am supposed to do so or because I am blessed to do so. All of those things can be done in the same exact way by two people and they may look identical externally. But God sees what’s going on internally, and it’s a Cain-and-Able-type difference! Hearts are in drastically different places!

The awareness that Jesus sought to bring to the Pharisees is the same awareness that we need today. We so naturally gravitate toward the outward stuff, too. Outwardly, we can compare our highlight reels with the everyone else’s lows or bad days. That keeps us feeling pretty good about ourselves. That keeps us convinced we’re above average, doing better than most. That puts us… right where the Pharisees were. So we need not the traditions of men, but the Word of God, to direct us to the real issue. 

And Jesus does just that. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come…” (v.21). Jesus’ words challenge our narrative that the evil in this world, and even that of which I am guilty, is a product of my surroundings. It’s “out there.” It’s someone else’s fault. It’s simply my response to the real issue, which is always some outward occurrence. My upbringing is to blame. The workplace environment is at fault. However we choose to spin it, Jesus stops the wheel, jams his index finger right into our chest and bluntly states, “Wrong. Your heart is the source of evil. It isn’t out there; it’s in here. That’s the problem.”

Ouch! There isn’t a more painful reality or realization than what Jesus reveals to us here: we are the problem! Our hearts are far from whole or holy, but instead are filled with holes, defiled and deficient, and incapable of the true holiness that God requires.

How did the Pharisees and teachers of the law response to Jesus’ charged accusations? They didn’t like the message so the planned to get rid of the Messenger. They rejected his words, rejected his teachings, and set their wicked hearts on getting rid of the One who exposed them. 

But grace moves us in a different direction. The confidence of faith, which beckons us to repentance, follows the encouragement given in the book of Hebrews: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (10:22). We own our sins, confess them, and return to God again and again in repentance, completely confident that he has cleansed our hearts of evil. Having purified them and made them holy, he gives us new hearts that cannot get enough of Jesus and long to love and serve him and follow him in faith.

That heart is not naturally found in any of us. Rather, it is graciously given through faith in Jesus. The apostle Peter said it like this: “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them… for he purified their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9).

“Just follow your heart” is good advice… to avoid at all times. Here is much better advice: follow Jesus’ heart for you. Amen. 

The Bread of Life: Dine or Dash?

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(John 6:51-69)

What are the most terrifying words in the Bible? You might think of Jesus’ teaching about hell and weeping and gnashing of teeth, where he describes a place and experience that we would not wish on even our worst enemy. You may have your own section of Old Testament Bible History that has always left you unsettled or uneasy. Maybe snippets of Paul’s letters come to mind, sections where he describes in detail some of the suffering and hardships he endured as a result of his faith.

I would like to add a verse from John 6 to the list of terrifying words in the Bible. It’s right there in verse 66. “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” What is it about that verse that is so terrifying? I would point to the word “disciples.”

You see, it would be much more palatable if John had informed us that those who turned back were those who were searching or questioning and no longer followed. Or if those who turned back were those who were on the fence about Jesus. Or hypocrites. Or unbelievers.

But John doesn’t use any of those terms. Instead, he uses the word “disciple.” In other words, these were individuals who had, up to that point, chosen to follow Jesus. And then sadly, these are the same ones who at this point made the conscious decision to stop following Jesus. 

I wonder… might there be some reading this very post who have chosen a similar path, or are possibly dangerously close to doing so? There was a time in the past when Jesus and his church were a central part of your life. Maybe as a child growing up in a church-going home. Possibly as a teenager or young adult active in a local church’s youth ministry. Or you came to faith later in life as an adult. 

But then something happened. I suppose in many cases it wasn’t some big event, but rather a slow drifting away. Let’s also acknowledge, though, other scenarios that did leave their mark. A humiliating or even traumatic experience. A big change at church that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. A false teaching – or maybe just an offensive one. Whatever it was, that was the point when you, one of his disciples, turned back and no longer followed him. Or for others, perhaps that point hasn’t yet come, but it’s right around the corner for you if something doesn’t change.

So there are still many today who would fall into the category John was describing of those who turned back and no longer followed Jesus. That response prompted Jesus to ask if his Twelve disciples had similar intention; if they too, were planning to walk away.

Peter, always the vocal one, hit a home run with his response. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (v. 68-69). There is nothing terrifying about that response! Peter was listening to the same Bread of Life teaching that the others had heard, and to him, going elsewhere wasn’t even an option. It would have been ludicrous to do so when the source of eternal life itself was standing right before him!

Let’s take note of two general responses to Jesus’ teaching. The first reply from many of the disciples was, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? (v.60). But Peter said he had “come to believe and to know that [Jesus is] the Holy One of God” (v.69). Even as drastically different as those two responses were, neither one argued that Jesus’ teaching was unclear. No one said it was confusing. No one claimed it was too complicated and that they needed help understanding it. No, they said it was “hard.” 

What was hard about it? It was hard because Jesus was saying that in eating him, in dining on the Bread of Life, he is to be our greatest priority. He is to come before all else in our lives.

It was hard because the Jesus who is about grace and love and compassion… is the same Jesus who has something to say to us about how we should live, how we should manage money, who we should sleep with, how much we can drink, how we should forgive those who wrong us, etc.

It was hard to let go of all other preconceived ideas of what religion or getting right with God was all about. It was hard because all of those in some capacity involved our effort or participation.

But Jesus’ teaching shot all of that down! Jesus said, “Nope. Just me. I’m all you need. Let go of your pride that insists on knowing better than I do what is best for your life or earning your own way or that you are somehow in a more deserving category than someone else. Put all of that behind you and see that I alone am the way to eternal life. All me. Only me. Not you.” See, that isn’t complicated or complex!

But it is hard. 

Not to Peter, though. To Peter, it was easy. And, if you’ve been listening to what Jesus has been saying in this whole teaching in John 6, one of the most worthwhile teachings of Jesus to wrestle with, it was reasonable. It was logical. It made perfect sense. 

Does it surprise you that faith could be described in those ways? Peter wasn’t overthinking things. He listened to Jesus and applied what Jesus was saying. If one listens to what Jesus says about himself, the claims he makes, the invitation he extends, Peter actually drew the most logical conclusion. If any of Jesus’ words had any merit, then it would be crazy for anyone to dismiss him and turn somewhere else. To draw any other conclusion about Jesus’ words, one would have had to be willing to have Jesus admitted to a mental hospital as someone struggling with multiple personality disorder or who had clearly lost his mind. Because Jesus’ teaching is not complicated or complex.

But it is hard. 

Until faith comes into the picture. Jesus said it this way: “‘The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.’ He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them’” (vs.63 & 65). Yes, faith in Jesus is reasonable. It is logical.

But it is also a gift, a gift that can be received only through the Holy Spirit, only when in humble submission I set aside my arrogance and let Jesus be who he claims to be in my life: my only Savior from sin and my only assurance of eternal life.

When by faith I know that Jesus, the Jesus who forgives all sin and welcomes with open arms all who know they need him, the Jesus who loves unconditionally and loves harder than anyone else, when that Jesus is the focus of my faith and the bedrock of my belief, that which seemed to be so hard becomes much easier. 

One of those challenging elements of faith in Jesus that becomes easier to grasp is how faith in Jesus relates to the role of his church. A gap has grown in recent years between the perception people have of Jesus and the perception they have of the church. Regardless of how familiar they are with him or how well they know him, people still tend to have a very positive opinion of Jesus. His church, however, has not sustained that same image. What used to be viewed as a respected and appreciated institution, one that played a pivotal role within communities, has seen its once favorable reputation steadily decline.

This is sad. Why? Because too often it has been justified.

When an institution, and more directly priests or pastors like me, betray a trust and abuse it for selfish and even sinister motives, shame on us. When we as Christians have by our own words and actions earned the reputation of dismissing or diminishing society’s neglected, the marginalized, victims of injustice, or anyone in need, shame on us. When Christians are more concerned about chastising than charity, shame on us. When we as Christians have hypocritically stood in judgment of certain sins while cozying up to other sins, shame on us. When we as Christians have cared about protecting an established institution more than proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ peace, hope, and salvation to the lost and condemned, shame on us.

But, if we can be honest and transparent enough to own those sins, can we also be honest and transparent enough to admit that the church’s reputation isn’t always tarnished because it does the wrong thing; sadly, it also happens when the church, when Christians, are doing the right things.

When Christians firmly stand on the teachings of Jesus even when his teachings aren’t popular, good for the church. When the church recognizes that its responsibility is to govern God’s kingdom with God’s Word, and lets the secular government govern the worldly kingdom with the laws of the land, realizing those two very different purposes, good for the church. When the church rightly realizes the good news of Jesus is for all people, regardless of how different we all are or how uncomfortable others may make her feel, good for the church.

When the church is doing those things, good for the church. And if the reputation of the church continues to decline when it is carrying out its work properly, the problem isn’t with the church, but with those who insist on being offended by her. When that happens, there is no place for pretending to hold to Jesus while rejecting her church, because the two are inseparable. The church is the body of Christ. And to be offended by the church carrying out her business as Jesus calls her to, is to be offended by Jesus himself. 

Did you catch Jesus calling that out in his dialogue? He asked the question in a very straight forward manner. “Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you?’” (v.61). Look how ahead of his time Jesus was! In this day and age, where everyone is concerned about being offended and giving offense, Jesus would fit right in!

But it wasn’t Jesus’ church that had done anything wrong when he asked the question; it was his own teaching that came from his own lips. So Jesus acknowledges that even when his words are proclaimed and his teachings continue to be passed on, even by imperfect Christians like us and imperfect pastors like me, there will still be be those who are offended. 

So let us consider this: will you be one of them? Will you be so offended by Jesus, who by his perfect life, death, and resurrection in your place and in mine, claims to be your Savior? Will his teaching that you and I are sinners in need of his salvation so offend you that you, like many of the disciples at the close of Jesus’ teaching, turn away from him, perhaps even attempting to draw less attention to it by claiming that it’s his church you’re turning away from, and not him? 

Or, will you, as Jesus invites all of us to do, continue to draw closer to him by feeding ourselves the Bread of Life, by filling up with more – not less – of Jesus through his Word? His promises and blessings are assured for all who choose not to dash, but to dine on the Bread of Life. If that is your choice, please realize that is precisely why congregations exists. It is exactly what we are here to do: help each other nourish our faith with the Bread of Life. 

Suppose you were on an expedition with a group of highly trained professionals. This expedition put your life at risk. At every stage, at every turn, there are dangers that threaten not only your physical health, but your very life. Imagine that one of those threats catches you off guard and you somehow are separated from the rest of the expedition.

At that point, what are your feelings about the rest of the group in the expedition as it relates to your specific situation threatening you? Do you hope that the expedition forges ahead without you, plugging onward to carry out the mission, and that hopefully you’ll eventually get yourself out of your sticky situation and catch up with the rest of them? Or, do you hope and pray that they quickly discover you’re not with them, backtrack on a brief search and rescue mission, and eventually come to your aid?

I’ve just described for you one of the tremendous blessings of belonging to a local congregation. Our congregation is not a community of comparison. We are not here to stand in judgment of others or diminish those who aren’t where we are in our walk of faith.

We are an expedition, navigating our way together through an ever-challenging world that has far more risky and dangerous threats than any earthly adventure; the kind that can damage our soul and compromise our eternity. And it makes all the difference to know that I am surrounded by those who will drop everything for a search and rescue mission when any one of us is threatened. There are many things in the world that are terrifying; Jesus’ church should not be included among them. 

We’ve considered some of the most terrifying words of the Bible; let me now close with some of the most comforting. There are so many of them, but let’s be sure to include these words of Jesus himself: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (v.51). Feast on Jesus, the Bread of Life, and you have nothing to fear.

The Bread of Life for Eternal Life

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(John 6:35-51)

You are at the drug store looking for something to provide relief and recovery from certain symptoms you’re experiencing. While in the aisle you are scanning everything, sorting through what seems like an endless assortment possibilities. What exactly are you looking for? Something that not only claims to be able to provide the relief you’re looking for, but will effectively do so. You aren’t looking for a placebo. You aren’t looking for something that is cheap and ineffective. How do you know what will work? You read the box, assess the claims it makes, and end up purchasing the one that holds out the most promise to get the job done. 

As we continue giving our attention to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see a number of very bold claims on the part of Jesus. And his claims are not fuzzy. They do not cause confusion by lacking clarity, nor are they hidden in some mysterious verbiage that requires special enlightenment to understand.

No, just as you’d expect to see on the product in the drug store, Jesus clearly states who he is and what he’s able to do. When you find that, what you need, what not only claims to work, but which actually does, you take hold of it. You don’t keep on looking for something inferior that underpromises. You take what works. Jesus, the Bread of Life, reveals this morning that where nothing else works, he does.

The first part of Jesus’ teaching, which we looked at in the first post in this series, drew our attention to that which doesn’t work. Not only what doesn’t work, but what actually will end up doing more harm than good. Jesus emphasized the importance of not making our lives about food that spoils.

We do well to carry out a routine review in our lives to guard against slipping back into sloppy spiritual habits that find us favoring the pursuit of food that spoils instead of food that sustains and endures: Jesus, the bread of life. When any busyness of life that we have chosen prohibits us from feeding more on the Bread of Life in our own lives, we had better be aware: prioritizing a diet of food that spoils is going to leave us spiritually malnourished and potentially starved. Keep allowing the food that spoils at your own risk!

In this middle portion of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see the focus shift from avoiding the stuff that spoils to highlighting why we have every reason to purse the food that endures to enteral life. Similarly, parents don’t just warn their children against eating too much junk food; they also make sure they eat their fruits and vegetables and the stuff that’s actually good for them. There is nothing better for us than that which is best for us, Jesus, the Bread of Life.

The more I have reflected on these words of Jesus from John 6, the more I am convinced this might be one of the best places to direct a skeptic of Christianity. Why? Because these words of Jesus provide a great opportunity to simply put Jesus’ words to the test. 

Suppose someone recommended some superfood or nutrition that is going to improve your health and make you feel so much better. If they urged you to try it and you were reluctant, you’d probably look into it a bit more. You might ask some others if they’ve heard of it or know anything about it. You’d undoubtedly Google it to find out more about it. While you can do all of those things, and there is wisdom in doing so, you’ll probably come away with so much information on both sides – for or against the recommendation – that it hasn’t really helped you make a decision. You end up doing what you could have just decided right away: you try it. Assuming there are no dangerous side effects or risks, the worst that could happen is it doesn’t deliver what was promised.

But… what if it does? And what if the benefits of trying it far surpass even your wildest expectations? What if it’s life changing and positively impacts your daily mood and energy in a way that you could never have imagined? Well, you’d never know unless you tried it. 

These words of Jesus serve as an invitation to try him out. Read, study, and reflect on what Jesus is saying in all this talk about bread. Then you can make an informed decision on who this Jesus really is. And, as others have pointed out, there are really three possible conclusions to arrive at about Jesus. He must be an off-his rocker lunatic, a deceiving, fork-tongued liar, or he is the Lord God himself. He cannot be all three; only one.

I believe these words of Jesus to be powerful enough to set himself apart as the Lord God, the Bread of Life. He alone is able to provide what we cannot find anywhere else at all. So let us try him out. Let us, as the psalmist encourages us to do, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Let’s start with Jesus’ bold promise in the first verse of this section. “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (v.35). Since this teaching of Jesus came on the heels of his miraculous feeding of the 5,000, it would be natural for the crowds to understand Jesus to be speaking literally, as if referring to his miracle as proof of being able to provide unlimited food and drink.

Even if that were the case, however, the word “never” says more than that. I can personally make a promise to others to do this or that, but I cannot attach a “never” to it, because I won’t always be around to see it through. My days are numbered, so I cannot make promises of “never.” So Jesus’ claim that those who come to him will “never” go hungry or thirsty is on a different level. It sets him apart from your average Joe.

Another straightforward statement of Jesus highlights very directly what is different about him. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (v.38). Hard to confuse that one, isn’t it? Who would make such a claim as to have come down from heaven??? 

Jesus’ statement is so bold that it might be natural for the modern reader to force some other interpretation of his words of here. However, the response of Jesus’ listeners indicates that they knew exactly what he was claiming, and it didn’t sit well with them. “At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven’” (v.41).

They thought Jesus was crossing a line. Healings and miraculous feedings and all that were one thing, but to have the audacity to claim heaven as one’s hometown? That was too far! So they knew full well exactly what Jesus was claiming. And in their minds, things only got worser from there. 

Their reaction provides insight in how to address the common argument from skeptic’s today who claim that if God existed, all he would need to do was appear and it would be all the proof they’d need. If he just made himself visible then they’d believe. Is that too much to ask?

Well, it isn’t too much to ask, but it’s pretty shallow thinking for a person in denial about God’s existence to contend that he’d suddenly believe if God just showed up. After all, that’s an atheist, an unbeliever, we’re talking about; but those listening to Jesus were Jews who already believed in a God. Not only did they believe there was a God, but they were about as devout as could be when it came to worshipping him! And if those who already believed in a God refused to believe that Jesus could be him, then it would be a far greater stretch for a God-denying atheist to believe so even if God showed up as he insisted.

Back to Jesus’ teaching. Those listening to him began to resent him. They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (v.42). It just wasn’t adding up for them. They couldn’t fathom how Joseph and Mary’s son could be what he was claiming. They knew the family. They saw little Jesus grow up. They possibly even heard stories of the unique details about the day he was born. Certainly someone who was born didn’t just beam down from heaven! They made up their minds. Jesus was just another local citizen, albeit a wise teacher with the power to perform miracles. But that wasn’t unique – God had often permitted his prophets in the past to do such things. But none of them had ever claimed to come from heaven. So what could be so special about Jesus?

His claims. Jesus’ claims don’t line up with the claims of ordinary men. Multiple times in this teaching he made a claim that no ordinary human being could ever have made. We see one of the most profound in verse 40. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (v.40).

We cannot miss the three bold claims woven into this statement. Jesus says that the Father’s will is for all to look on and believe in the Son – in Jesus! Remember that the Jewish people were monotheistic – worshipping only one God was a BIG part of their religion It set them apart from so many other religions with multiple gods to worship and please. They believed and worshipped in one God, but now Jesus’ claim was that that one God desired for them to believe in his Son, in Jesus, for eternal life!

He didn’t stop there. He also claimed to be the one to raise up believers on the last day. That kind of ability surpassed that of a doctor; it belonged only to the divine. People don’t rise from the dead alone; only God raises them or gives others the ability to do so!

Finally, we can’t miss the timing. Note that Jesus wasn’t talking about raising the dead yesterday, today, or tomorrow, but on the last day. How could man, whose life is determined by decades, not only raise anyone from the dead, but still be around on the last day to do so?!?

There is no misconstruing or confusing what Jesus is saying here. His words are not convoluted or complex. He is making clear, yet bold claims that are beyond the reach or ability of any human being.

So to the argument which some make that Jesus never claims to be God in the Bible, what other conclusion are we to draw about Jesus’ words here? There is no alternative! Jesus, the Bread of Life, is the ultimate manna from heaven. “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die” (v.47-50).

What a difference! The Israelites ate the bread from heaven, manna, and they died. But Jesus, the true Bread from heaven, died, so that all who eat him may live!

How could all of this be? How could Jesus make such a promise?

Because he had in mind the very sacrifice he was going to offer to make it all possible. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (v.51). Jesus was foreshadowing his crucifixion, where he gave himself up so that the world could have life. The Living Bread willingly died so that the spiritually dead – all people – could live. Only Jesus offers what cannot be found anywhere else: eternal life. 

Do we forget that God originally created us to live eternally? There was no death in his design of things. The word “eternal” only had to be added to describe eternal life after sin and its separation from God changed everything.

So the same way jokes are made asking whether it’s called “Chinese” food if it’s in China or if the French call them “french” fries or just “fries,” there was no need to call it “eternal” life when God first created Adam and Eve, because that’s what life was originally. Sin and eternal death necessitated the distinction between “life” and “eternal life.”

Jesus has reversed that. Jesus restored eternal life, because the sinless One suffered and died and served the sentence for us. Jesus forgave our sins – including every time we sinfully slip into searching for food that spoils again and again.

But with the debt of our sin cancelled, the path to eternal life has been reopened. And it comes only through Jesus, the Bread of Life. Next time, as we close out Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we are faced with the question of how we will respond to Jesus’ invitation to feed on him as the Bread of Life. 

The Best Bread

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(John 6:24-35)

There are a lot of good things to be said for being more aware of our diet and nutrition in America, of having a better sense of what is going into our bodies and what effects certain ingredients have on us. However, such awareness is not without its consequences. One of those is that we end up taking the results of this study or that headline to the extreme when it comes to either the positives of negatives of a certain ingredient or type of food. So, rather than approaching food sensibly, in moderation one direction or the other, we go to extremes. We either over-do it on this miracle superfood that promises to help us live to 120, or we completely eliminate something that an “expert” warned could send us to an early grave if we have too much of it. One of the victims of our health-conscious, carb-cutting culture has been bread. We order our burger without the bun. We scoop our bagels. We don’t eat the crusts on the pizza.

That general perception in our culture that bread is nothing more than extra, unnecessary carbs could have a negative impact on our understanding of the imagery Jesus used in his teaching from John chapter 6. We may not as easily relate to the main point Jesus is trying to emphasize by using bread as his focal point, which is simply that bread represented a dietary staple. 

In Jesus’ day, and still today in many places all over the world, where Grub Hub or Door Dash don’t exist to bring directly to your door any delicacy or delight you crave at any given time, bread is essential. It represents one of the most basic needs in life. Elsewhere in his teaching, Jesus does the same thing in comparing himself to water; it is a basic need for life. So even though we may go days or weeks so much as a crumb of carbs, don’t let that conceal the main truth of Jesus’ teaching: just as bread is a basic need for life, so also – albeit on a much grander scale – is Jesus!

As we listen to Jesus teach, certainly we wouldn’t question his teachings on salvation or eternal life. After all, where would we expect to find a more qualified expert to speak and teach on salvation than the Savior himself? When Jesus speaks on the matter of forgiveness and salvation, we listen and believe, because he is the authority on the subject. 

But let’s also realize something else about the authority and author of our salvation: if he is the expert on such things, then wouldn’t he also be the most qualified to warn us about the most dangerous threats to salvation? In other words, Jesus’ warnings are not just fringe possibilities or long shots to forfeit our salvation, but are in fact the most serious threats of which we need to be aware. So let us listen to Jesus, not only when he speaks of the stuff of eternal life, but also when he warns us about that which seeks to rob us of it.

In the first part of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see quite clearly the warning Jesus provides. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v.27). Here is the question with which we are forced to wrestle if we want to appreciate all of Jesus’ teaching: are you working for food that spoils? Before you answer that question, we have to clarify what Jesus is emphasizing. We have to look at his warning as he sets it up in contrast to the “food that endures to eternal life.” 

Jesus isn’t throwing out a blanket prohibition against all of our personal pursuits or passions in this world. He isn’t saying the olympic athlete driven to be the best in the sport is sinning. He isn’t saying it’s wrong to want to advance your career. He isn’t saying you can’t have nice things. What he is saying, though, is that when our drive for those things surpasses or overshadows our pursuit of the food that endures to eternal life, then we have a problem.

With that understanding, we can ask the question again: are you working for food that spoils? What (or who) is it right now that you really really want? What do you have to have? What is receiving the bulk of your time and energy? What is consuming your thoughts? What will crush you if you can’t eventually get it or have it? What might even be a permissible reason for you to justify setting aside your integrity or ethics to get it? What are you willing to make significant sacrifices for as you seek it out? However you might answer any of those questions could be the indicator that you’re working for food that spoils.

And you know what happens to food that spoils, don’t you? Look at what happened to the Israelites who gathered too much manna in the wilderness (Ex. 16). It was covered in maggots! What a powerful visual aid for anything, everything, we could possibly work for or pursue with our short time here on earth that isn’t the stuff of eternal life! That’s what it all will come to! Whatever it is you’re burning the candle at both ends for will not amount to anything. It will all spoil and be gone. 

If it has hit you that you’ve been working for food that spoils for some time in your life, that’s the first step in turning things around. But beware – it’s very hard to give that up cold turkey and trade it in for the bread of life just like that.

Another pleasant visual aid that illustrates this can sometimes be found when bringing in your trash bins from the curb after they’ve been collected. Even after the trash has been emptied from the bins into the garbage truck, depending on what’s been in the bin all week, it isn’t uncommon to peek down into the bottom of the trash bin and see squirming maggots still hanging around. The trash is gone, but its effects are lingering.

So when it hits us that we’ve been giving our lives to working for food that spoils, and in repentance we want to turn things around, be aware that the effects of having worked so long for food that spoils can linger for a bit. It takes time to get rid of it.

But admitting that I’ve been working for food that spoils is the first step. Once I realize that, I can come to grips with how fruitless that endeavor has been, and how fruitful it will be to work for food that endures to eternal life.

Jesus had the crowd’s attention. While they didn’t fully understand yet, they did want to know what that looked like. They wanted to know what Jesus considered to be the kind of work he was calling for. “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’” (v.28). While curious about turning things around, they still couldn’t detach themselves from the concept of working and pursuing and pleasing. 

This is understandable, given the essence of their religion, which was all about keeping laws and following rules. The Jewish faith emphasized obedience and righteousness and holy living. But, while these are all good things, they are not and never will be salvation things. They don’t save. People today who still share the sense that good people go to heaven are clinging to a work-based salvation. But good works for salvation is not only impossible; it’s also not what Jesus is after. There’s another “work” that is far more important. 

Jesus spelled it out for them. “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (v.29). Jesus’ take on work was not about what you had to be, but rather who you had to believe. That’s what God was after because that’s the only way God saves – through belief in his Son through whom salvation is secured. Believe in him and you are working for food that endures. And, even as Jesus is imploring his listeners to believe, notice who gets the credit for that work – even that is God’s work! When belief – faith – is created, it is always only God’s work, not ours.

No, we aren’t saved by works; we are saved by believing in Jesus. But you may wonder, since believing is a relatively simple thing, why can’t we then carry on with our daily lives and continue pursuing our other interests and goals in life, the stuff that possibly qualifies as the “food that spoils” which Jesus warned against? If I believe, and that is enough, and that is the work God requires, well count me in. I believe! Good enough, right?

Yes, it is good enough. But here’s the problem: you aren’t.

You aren’t good enough to sustain or maintain – let alone grow in – that belief, that faith. Think of a simple flashlight. It has one task. In shines light. And it will do that one task well and it will do that one task for a long time. But eventually you’ll notice the light from that flashlight begins to dim a bit. It isn’t quite as bright as it used to be. Once that happens, the rate at which it dims seems to accelerate until finally, there is no light. The flashlight stops doing its one job. Why? It’s time to recharge it or change the battery. 

We are not unlike that flashlight. We are called to shine in our faith. We really have one job: believe, which leads us to reflect that faith in our daily lives. But we cannot shine endlessly, and we cannot shine brightly, without either a regular charge or new batteries.

Or, to switch back to the picture Jesus is using, the focus of our series, we cannot function in faith without regularly being fed the bread of life. We need Jesus. A lot of Jesus, not just a few crumbs here and there. That may make our carb-sensitive culture a little uneasy, but trust me, you can’t have too much of this Bread! It is hands down the best bread!