Tag: sermon

“Help Me See… that I Have Purpose”

adbLeave a comment

(John 21:15-25)

“When they had finished eating…” (v.15). Did John catch your attention with these words? Remember who the “they” is made up of – it includes Jesus! The dead guy was eating a meal with the disciples! They had been out on the Sea of Galilee fishing, not catching anything, and then Jesus told them to throw the net on the other side of the boat. When they did, the haul of fish was too great that one boat alone could not drag it to shore! Then, once they were on the shore together, they ate. Jesus, the dead guy, was eating. The one who had taken his last breath on the cross, whose lifeless corpse had been removed from the cross and placed in a tomb, was there. Eating. Doing something that only living people do. John tells us this was the third time Jesus had appeared to the disciples. Were the disciples still in awe of it at all? Had the magnitude of the Resurrection begun to sink in yet… or had it already lost its luster?

It’s been two weeks already since we celebrated Easter Sunday. Does the magnitude of the Resurrection still sink in for you… or has it already lost its luster? Another question: is the Resurrection simply an historical event that we celebrate, or is it an eternity-altering, life-changing shift in how we view ourselves and our reason for being in this world?

How we view it makes a difference, as we seem to be lacking purpose. It seems like people are more content than ever to just ooze through life, like molasses slowly dripping off a spoon. There’s no drive. There’s no motivation. There’s no yearning to make a difference. In fact, indifference is maybe the best description of it. People don’t care. We just exist. We wake up. Eat. Do nothing for a whole day. Go back to sleep. What are we here for? What is our purpose? Today’s message is needed, because Jesus provides us with the purpose many are lacking.

The word “purpose” needs clarification. We can use it to mean two things: what? and why? Both are essential when it comes to Jesus helping us see our purpose. It is one thing for a person to know the “what?” of his purpose, but if there is no “why?” to his purpose, no drive, no determination, no motivation, then it’s possible that nothing changes. A child knows the purpose (what?) of school – to learn and receive an education. But parents and teachers alike realize that the child/student also needs purpose (why?) – motivation, encouragement, drive, to carry that follow through. 

And Jesus gives it both to us – the “what?” and the “why?” of our purpose. And there is nothing more noble than the purpose Jesus provides. Do you hear that? There is nothing more noble, no greater achievement than the purpose Jesus assigns to us as his disciples. We’ll focus on the “what?” of our purpose in just a moment as we see Jesus dialogue with Peter. But Jesus’ resurrection also provides us with the “why?”  After all, what is more inspiring than his resurrection from the dead? What could be more impactful than the dead end of death being overcome and stripped of the chokehold it would otherwise have on anyone’s purpose? For if the end result of anything we accomplish in this life would simply be the meaninglessness of death, why bother? Why care? Why get up in the morning? What would be the point if death had the final say?

But it doesn’t. There is more. So much more than the here and now, and Jesus’ resurrection helps us see it, helps us see our purpose, and propels us to carry it out with enthusiasm and vigor because we know something that far too many don’t: there’s more. There’s a life waiting for us that by comparison would make the best days of this life seem like a nightmare. Sure, had Jesus remained in the tomb and stayed and decayed, we would have reason to be deflated and defeated, like a boxer getting pummeled who is encouraged to just stay down and give up. But that’s not how it ended. The finality of death was flung off by Jesus’ resurrection. The whole picture of rising up is one of intention and purpose! His death by itself would have been the end, but his Resurrection was just the beginning. It means purpose, purpose for Christ which means purpose for you and me, and by the very same act he propels us to carry out our purpose, meaning that our work makes a real difference! So let us explore and embrace his purpose for us, and let the Resurrection help us see what a profound impact the risen Jesus can make in and through each and every one of us as we feed, care, and follow. 

Jesus told Peter to feed, and he told him twice. The first time he told him to feed lambs, which could mean either little ones, children, or also those who are new to the faith. The second time Jesus told Peter to feed, he used a different word, the word “sheep,” which would include everyone. So his purpose was to feed everyone, little ones, grown ups, and those new to the faith – all of the sheep of God’s flock. 

You don’t have to be a pet expert to realize there is one key requirement for having a pet that matters more than anything else. This key requirement pretty much applies across the board, regardless of the type of pet – dog, cat, bird, hamster, lizard, fish, snake, etc. Whatever type of pet you have, it needs to be fed. You might occasionally miss a meal here or there, but if you go too long without feeding your pet, you won’t have a pet for very long.

I don’t know if there is a simpler analogy in the whole Bible than the concept of needing to be fed to live. Everyone understands that basic truth. Eat and live. Don’t eat and starve. Yet as simple as it might be to comprehend, it may be one of the most difficult to make stick spiritually. Go to church every week. Participate in Bible study. Read your Bible. Have devotions. “But why? Why do I need to do those things?” Because you’ll die if you don’t. Because you want to live. Because you need to be fed to stay alive. And if you don’t take Jesus’ command to feed and be fed seriously, thinking these things don’t really matter or make much of a difference, please see me after the service and I will sadly provide a list of names – many of them names we know – of those who have either died or are dying because they are not being fed. “Feed my sheep” (v.17). That is your purpose!

And care for them. In addition to feeding his sheep, Jesus gave to Peter the command, “Take care of my sheep” (v.16). Feeding sheep is essential to keeping them alive, but it’s not the only thing that is necessary. They also need to be cared for. Whether you’re caring for a newborn or an aging parent, you know that making sure they are fed is not the only thing they need. They aren’t able to carry out basic functions on their own. They aren’t able to know what pills or medicine they need. They need care. 

All of us do – especially in a world that is sending conflicting messages about what it means to care. Consider the messages we’re used to hearing: “Distance yourself. Isolate yourself. Stay away from others. Don’t say anything negative about others living their truth. Mind your own business.” While it isn’t overtly stated, how can anyone ignore that the overall message being received in all of this is “worry about yourself,” and is that really any different than, “stop caring about others?” One of our members just recently commented on how nice it is to come to church and frequently be asked by one person or another, “How are you doing?” Think about where else we can expect to receive such a simple, yet impactful, expression of concern in our world today? Working remotely? From neighbors we don’t know? From distance learning on a screen? But the church is called to care. That is our purpose. That is why you are here – to care for each other. Why does the Acts 2 church have to be the standard for what care should look like among believers in the church? Why can’t we raise the standard even higher? What is stopping us from caring about each other in such a radical way that our neighborhood and community couldn’t help but be attracted to how deeply we care for each other? 

Jesus gives us purpose. He calls us to feed, to care, and also to follow. He told Peter in verse 19 and again in verse 22: “Follow me.”  Not casually. Not occasionally glancing up. Not the way we find ourselves trying to follow two or more screens at the same time when we watch a movie, with the television on, with our phone in hand and another screen on our lap. That’s not focus. That’s not following. That’s being distracted. But it’s also perhaps a better illustration of how many of us follow Jesus. We glance up on occasion from the other stuff in life when we get a break, but we’re not really engaged. We’re not really focused. Jesus is there, and we keep tabs on him and check on him. But we don’t follow him the way he calls us to, we don’t follow him the way the winter storm driver clings to the wheel, white-knuckled, when the road itself is hardly visible and she’s locked in to the red taillights on the car in front of her. THAT’s the kind of following Jesus calls us to do.

Why? Why should you follow, feed, and care for each other? We need to revisit the “why?” of our purpose. Why should you carry out this purpose to which Jesus has called you? Because of what he did for you in the first place to even enable you to not only have a purpose, but to live. Being reminded of our purpose this morning is a double-edged sword, isn’t it? It convicts and condemns each of us for how indifferent we’ve been to his purpose for us, and how infrequently we concern ourselves with carrying it out, and how inadequate even our good days really are. So for all of that, Jesus died. For all of that, more importantly, Jesus rose. He did not need to die and rise for himself, remember. He did not need to depart the holy majesty of heaven for himself. He died and rose so that your purpose would mean something. So that as you feed and care and follow, it would actually matter. For eternity and for this life. The past two Sundays Jesus’ resurrection has helped us overcome negatives – fears and doubts, but too often we fail to see how the Resurrection amplifies our lives, the positives it brings to us. It isn’t just about what he’s freed us from – Satan, sin, and death itself – but also what he has set us free for – purpose! You are not only on this planet for a purpose, but you are here in this place, in this church, around these people God has brought together, for a purpose, for each other. Love your brothers! Love your sisters. And show it.

Did you make that connection that Jesus did for Peter? Three times he asked Peter if he loved him. Each time Peter responded with a resounding “Yes!” Each time Jesus then gave Peter the opportunity not just to speak his love, but to put it into action. Feed. Care. Follow. Jesus loves you fiercely. Do you love him? Really? Then feed, care, follow. You have purpose. Carry it out purposefully with the strength his Resurrection provides.

“Help Me See… that My Doubts are Unfounded”

adbLeave a comment

(John 20:19-29)

People don’t rise from the dead. People die. They die all the time. We are accustomed to daily news reports of accidents or tragedies that took place, and one of the most commonly reported details in such cases is the number of those dead. Sadly, mass shootings have been a regular occurrence this year so far. We may not be shocked to hear that there’s been another shooting, but we do look immediately to see how many died. Headlines and news stories report people dying. They don’t, however, report people rising from the dead. 

That being the case, we ought not be the least bit surprised by the reaction of Thomas at the news of the resurrected Jesus appearing to the disciples. Dying, sure – that was normal. Everyone died. Word had even spread that Jesus had died. But rising from the dead is not normal, so when this completely abnormal event was reported to Thomas, of course he doubted. Let’s not pretend we would have done otherwise. 

Doubt is most likely in situations that are most unlikely, right? In other words, when there is not a very high probability or likelihood of something taking place, doubt is quite common. Not too long ago when the lottery jackpot kept rising and no one kept winning, I did something I rarely do – I bought a couple of tickets. Do you suppose I had a high level of confidence that I was going to win? Absolutely not, but it’s a fun way to teach my kids that lottery tickets are an absolutely horrible method of financial planning for your retirement. Winning the lottery is reality-based reason to doubt – the likelihood of a person winning is extremely low – especially when the jackpot is high and more tickets are sold! The same could be said of aspirations to play professional sports or fly into space. The likelihood of some things happening is statistically so low that there are reality-based reasons to doubt.

But there is another cause of our doubt. It isn’t always just reality-based; sometimes it’s brain-based. When my mind is made up that something isn’t going to happen and I drum up enough doubt to derail it, or to see to it that a thing never even gets a chance in the first place, that’s a different kind of doubt. “I have been single this long, so I doubt I’ll ever get married.” “I can’t put thoughts to words like this author can, so I could never write a book.” “I’m not a strong enough Christian to serve in my church.” Regardless of what the reality of these situations is, the doubt isn’t based on overwhelming external evidence or statistics or probabilities – it isn’t reality-based, but brain-based. There is something to it when we tell others, “It’s just in your head.” So very often, doubt is, too. It’s just in our head, and as long as we let it take up space there, it will leave us limited.

Of these two types of doubt, reality-based and brain-based, which do you attribute to Thomas? When the disciples ecstatically announced that they had seen the risen Jesus, and Thomas responded, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25), was his doubt based on reality or was it just in his head? Wouldn’t we be inclined to presume his doubt was reality-based? Remember, dead people don’t rise! Not only is it statistically unlikely – it’s impossible! So it would seem Thomas’s doubts were reality-based. 

Jesus’ resurrection, though, is different. While resurrections in general are not only improbable, but impossible, not only was Jesus’ resurrection possible; it was also predicted! The prophets Isaiah (ch. 9) and Micah (ch. 5) had both predicted that the Messiah’s rule would never end. It would be eternal. Therefore, the Messiah would have to live forever; death could not be the end. Psalms 16 and 22, Jonah, and Isaiah (ch. 53) also make reference to death and rising or living again. Since David died, such references could not be to him alone, but to the Messiah who would not be abandoned to the grave, who would live to see his offspring. The resurrection, while not explicitly stated in the Old Testament, was clearly taught nonetheless.

And Thomas didn’t just have the Old Testament. He also had the words of Jesus himself. Jesus had predicted both clearly and directly on numerous different occasions that he would die and three days later rise again (clear enough, in fact, that even his enemies accused him of making such a claim!). So Thomas also had the words directly from the source!

And Thomas didn’t just have the words of Jesus – though even those would have been more than adequate! He also had the words of the other disciples. Perhaps if one or two had made such a claim, it might be easier to doubt. But all of them agreed. These were people Thomas trusted and respected. They were his friends. They saw Jesus – alive!

So in light of all of the evidence, was Thomas’s doubt in fact reality-based, or brain-based? Think of a similar situation. Suppose tomorrow a headline reveals that a doctor discovered the cure for cancer. Based on reality, you would have reason to doubt. We can’t cure cancer, after all, we can only treat it. But in addition to his claim, he also provides evidence of his studies and work. And on top of that he provides case studies of real-life people whose cancer has been cured, and their friends and witnesses who attest to it! Reality-based doubt suddenly falls by the wayside when a previous reality changes. So it was with Jesus’ resurrection. Dead people don’t rise. Until Jesus did. Any doubt about it at that point was no longer reality-based, but brain based. It was all in Thomas’s head. 

Let’s shift now from Thomas’s doubts to yours. From where do most of your doubts stem? Are they based in reality or in your own brain? 

Take our theological doubts. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Christian or not – there are plenty of teachings and concepts and characteristics about God that leave us doubting from time to time… even the event that is the reason for this season of the church year and the focus of this series: the Resurrection. There are times when we are pondering our relationship with God and doubts arise as to whether or not Jesus did rise. And, while we’re at it, let’s be totally honest and go back a step further – there are even times we doubt if God exists. There, I said it – do you feel better? Now those might be the big ones, but they’re just the tip of our theological doubts. Ever doubted the Trinity? Ever doubted Creation? Ever doubted that in respect to our roles as men and women, God actually did create us differently, and that it’s a good thing? Ever doubt that there’s a hell… or even a heaven? You’re not alone. 

But I don’t know how much of a comfort that is. See, you’re not alone because every doubt you and I have about God can be traced all the way back to the same seed of doubt planted in the Garden of Even. Tragically, it sprouted immediately into sin. Satan introduced doubt into Eve’s mind when he asked, “Did God really say you couldn’t eat the fruit?” (Gen. 3). Just as surely as that doubt snowballed into sin, so today it is no different. Our doubts about God aren’t merely the stuff of innocent ignorance, but rather willful rebellion. Doubts about God are natural for a human race that despises being beneath anyone else, that wants no one over us, no one controlling us, no one the boss of us. But even that false impression we have of God isn’t from God himself, but from his enemy. The relationship Adam & Eve first had with God was nothing like what Satan tries to sell us today! It was beautiful! Harmonious! No bossing or controlling – only perfect love seen for what it truly was! Before the Fall, when Adam & Eve had enjoyed the holy image of God, there was no doubt, because there was only perfect understanding. But where sin reigns in this world, doubt abounds.

So we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. Do we give in to doubt, keep our heads stuck in the sand about the reality of our doubts being indicative of our sinful nature and its ultimate destination of hell, or in repentance do we trade in our doubts for trust? Do I trust that my sin – all of it, including every ounce of doubt – has been forgiven? Do I believe that my doubts, while common to us all and which would rightly condemn us all, have been dealt with and disallowed as inadmissible evidence against me because of Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Do I believe that my gracious God actually wants to replace my crippling doubts with concrete trust in him? Do I believe that the Resurrection truly does help me see all of this? Do I believe that a former way of life that was riddled with doubt can give way to a life full of faith, of confident trust in a compassionate, gracious, forgiving God? Do I believe it can make a difference living a life that is secure and assured, not in self, but in my resurrected Savior and his promises? If you believe these things – when you believe these things, you experience the exact blessings Jesus promised to Thomas when he appeared to him a week later and said, “Peace be with you! Stop doubting and believe… blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (cf. v.26-28). As the Holy Spirit increasingly replaces your doubts with his trust, blessings will multiply in your life.

Finally, whether reality-based or brain-based, we doubt on a daily basis. But… we also trust on a daily basis. Every bite of food you eat, you are trusting that you’ll swallow it without choking. Every time you obey a traffic light, you trust others will do the same and not collide into you. Every time you follow the doctor’s orders and the directions on the pill bottle, you trust that doing so will be good for you. When you go to bed at night, you trust you will wake up in the morning. Everything I just mentioned amounts to a fraction of the times we exercise trust each day, and they all have this in common: not one of them is 100% reliable! Your personal experience has taught you that! Yet we still live daily placing our trust in these trivial activities. So what do you suppose happens when we place our trust completely in the one who is 100% reliable, in the God who has never failed to follow through with a promise, who has always had the best eternal interest of his people on his heart and mind, who went to the lengths he did to put you at peace? Friends, now as much as ever, it is time for us to leave Thomas and his doubts behind and let the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead help us see that our doubts are unfounded. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed!

“Help Me See… that I don’t Have to Be Afraid”

adbLeave a comment

(John 20:1-18)

Over the years when people have commented on the relatively tiny Bible I use while preaching, the running joke has always been that you’ll know when my age is showing and my eyesight is going because that’s when I’ll start lugging around a bigger large-print version. Well, it’s probably time to at least acknowledge that I am increasingly becoming more and more aware of quickly that need is arriving. It’s nothing major, really – just a word or two here or there that I mistake for another, or adjusting its distance from my eyes. While I don’t think it’s yet a significant issue, I can tell that certain details here and there do seem to be a little fuzzier than they used to be, and not just to an aging brain, mind you, but to aging eyes.  

But our eyes aren’t the only way we see. In fact we talk about it in quite another way, when another person doesn’t “see” things the way I do. We aren’t talking about physical sight in those instances, but sharing a similar perspective or opinionated view about something. Teenagers lament that their parents don’t get it. What they mean is that parents don’t see things the same way they do (BTW, it’s true – and thank God that they don’t!). And this past year has exposed so many different ways that so many different people see so many different things. People see things differently. One sees excessive police brutality; another sees an officer doing his job under extremely stressful circumstances. One sees the government just doing its job; another sees it far overstepping its role. One associates a mask and vaccinations with saving lives; another associates it with control and loss of freedom. We see things differently.

Here is a question we have to answer before we go any further: Am I willing to acknowledge that there may be another way to see something than the way I see it? It sounds so absurd to even have to ask that, but in this day and age, we seem to be much more interested in solidifying our own deep-seated personal opinions than we are in learning why someone else might see something differently. So if you are too proud or too entrenched in your own opinion to ever be open to the possibility that in some cases, there may be another way to see something, then you might want to tune out right now. This isn’t for you. But if you are open to seeing things differently, then pay attention, because Easter specializes in this department. The Resurrection helps us see differently. When unprecedented, historic events take place, we forever see things differently afterward. Man couldn’t fly. Then he flew, and we’ve never seen things the same way. Man could never land on the moon. Then he did, and we’ve never seen things the same way. 

So if ever there was something that just might lead me to see things differently, it’s when something happens that isn’t typical, ordinary, or normal. And the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is anything by typical, ordinary, or normal. So when there’s a claim that someone rose from the dead, and when billions of people throughout history have believed and still believe that claim, it merits consideration. This morning and in the weeks that follow, we want to be open to the possibility of how the single boldest claim in all of history – the Resurrection – might Help Me See.

I mentioned how this last year has revealed how many different ways we see things. Yet the real issue is not just seeing things differently – that has always been the case and always will be. The real issue is that we have become so polarized over those differences. THAT is the issue. Why were your grandparents and their grandparents able to see things differently without being so polarized by those differences like we are today? Do you know what the difference today is? Fear. The polarization comes from fear.

Before you quickly dismiss that notion, let me suggest a possible reason you may not see it that way: the older we get, the better we get at hiding our fear behind other things. We hide it behind anger – one of the more popular options of our culture today – that a person really only cares about something if he’s angry enough to do something about it. So we have cancel culture. We also hide our fear behind indifference. We claim not to care about something or have an opinion about something because we’re afraid that if we actually express it, it might not be the popular one or might get shot down, so we quietly pretend it doesn’t matter to us one way or the other. And we can also hide our fear behind humor. We suppress our concern behind jokes that seek to downplay one view or another, so that others would conclude that it’s not really a big deal to me if I am joking about it all the time. And fear is such a crippling thing that we’ll hide it behind anger, indifference, and humor for years, decades, even, rather than deal with or address the fear that is behind them. 

Mary brought her fears with her to the tomb. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” (v.1-2). One can understand why she was so distraught. The past several days had been an emotional tug-of-war. Her Savior had died as she helplessly watched. The least she could do was provide him with a proper burial. She would be honored to carry out that responsibility. But her heart, still heavy with thoughts of the crucifixion weighing it down, would find no relief even in serving her Savior in his burial, for he wasn’t there! And after she had returned from telling the disciples, John tells us she remained outside the tomb mourning, not for her dead Savior, but from the overwhelm of not knowing where his body was. She explained her fears to the angels, and even to Jesus himself, thinking he was the gardener. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel, what to do!

Then everything changed. Jesus spoke to her. Called her name. “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’)” (v.16). Take note of what happened that changed everything! It wasn’t seeing – she had already seen the empty tomb. She had even already seen Jesus himself, but it wasn’t until she heard that she could really see. She had to hear to see. And when she heard Jesus call her name, when she heard the voice of her Savior, the fear melted away. After Jesus explained to Mary what would happen next, John tells us, “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her” (v.18). So when she heard, she saw, and when she saw, her fears melted away. She arrived at the tomb filled with fear that it was empty, but she departed that tomb that day leaving her fear behind. 

I can tell you from my experience, and many of you would agree, that is precisely the power the empty tomb has. Before we arrive at the tomb, we are filled with fear, but after we hear the voice of our risen Savior and see, we leave our fears behind. Just like Mary, when we hear, we see. When we hear his voice speak to us in the Scriptures, we see that we have nothing to fear. 

What is your greatest fear? Listen to the voice of your resurrected Savior, and he will help you see. Is your greatest fear that you’ll never have enough, that you’ll never be able to keep up with the Joneses’? Jesus said, “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions,” (Lk. 12:15), but “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn. 10:10). Is your greatest fear not being loved or accepted by others in general, or by someone specific? Jesus said that God loved you so much that he gave up his only Son for you (Jn. 3:16). Is your greatest fear not knowing how something is going to play out or what the future holds? Jesus encourages you to look at how he cares for all of nature and the animal kingdom and that you are much more valuable than they – don’t worry, he will take care of you in the future (Mt. 6). Is your greatest fear being overcome by circumstances in a world that feels as if it is slowly splitting at its seams? To that fear, Jesus says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). Is your greatest fear having to take your last breath and not knowing what happens next, not knowing where you stand with God? Fear not, for Jesus “shared in [your] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

So many of our fears are based on the unknown. We don’t know what’s on the other side, and so we fear. But let us leave today with the same encouragement a doctor gave his patient. The patient explained that he was afraid of dying, because he didn’t know what was on the other side of death. He looked to his doctor for answers. “I don’t know,” replied his doctor. “You don’t know? Aren’t you a Christian, and you don’t know what’s on the other side?” While they were talking, the doctor was holding the handle of the door to the room, and there was scratching and whining on the other side of the door. As soon as he opened the door, a dog eagerly darted into the room to smother the doctor. The doctor turned to his patient and asked, “Did you see how eagerly my dog flew into this room? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what would be inside of this room except for one thing: me, his master. That was enough for him to spring into the room without fear. I may not know all the details about what is on the other side of death, but I do know that my master, my Savior is on the other side. And that is enough.” May we all continue to hear the voice of the resurrected living Jesus, so that he would help us see that we, too, don’t have to be afraid. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed!

“Habits of His Grace: Humility”

adbLeave a comment

(Mark 11:1-10)

A mutual friend recently sent this message to my wife: “What I love about myself is I work hard to gain humility.” We realize the irony of a statement like this is quite humorous. It also shows why humility is such a challenge for us – we want to be recognized for it when/if we achieve it! To demonstrate that truth, how would you rate your development in this department over the past year or two? Would you give yourself a fairly decent rating on a scale of 1 to 10 for having gradually improved in being more humble? And here’s the meta question: if you would be inclined to give yourself a strong or even respectable score in growing in humility, wouldn’t that actually be an indicator that you haven’t grown? If you were truly humble, wouldn’t you consistently give yourself a very low score? And, to take it a step further, if you’re now saying to yourself, “yes, I do give myself a low score in the area of humility,” doesn’t that come from a place of wanting to be recognized or acknowledged for your humility, which is of course the exact opposite of humility?!? Ach! Our lack of humility is humiliating!

The reason behind this frustration has been quoted frequently by C.S. Lewis: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” The greatest concern that man has had ever since the Fall is self-preservation. Putting others first is not our default mode. Thinking of how we might serve others with all that we are and all that we have is not the first thought that fills our head when we wake up in the morning. We don’t think of how the day’s events affect others, but how they affect me. Humility isn’t natural; it is a habit of his grace. And Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday), the start of Holy Week (Passion Week), puts Jesus’ humility on display. 

The colt is a picture of humility. A donkey was not a picture of greatness or royalty, but a work animal, and nothing more. A horse, on the other hand, can be a fickle animal, prideful even. If it doesn’t want to be ridden, its rider won’t have an easy time mounting it. But a donkey puts up no fuss when being forced to labor or carry a burden. It humbly does what it is asked. Little girls don’t clamor for a donkey, but a horse. No one says they want to buy a farm and raise donkeys. We associate them not with greatness, but with humility. So how appropriate that a donkey would be the animal chosen to carry the humble Savior to Jerusalem, his final destination.

But perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering the same thing I wondered this recently: if this is an act of humility in the first place, then why is Jesus riding anything into Jerusalem? Why not quietly sneak in the back door, unnoticed? Why not just walk into Jerusalem without making a big scene? Why ride? Why all the fanfare? Is that really humility?

The colt and the praise-proclaiming parade of people have less to do with humility or some overt attempt on Jesus’ part to draw attention to himself, and much more to do with fulfilling Scripture. The Word of God said these things would happen, and so they had to happen that way. The prophet Zechariah prophesied that Jesus would enter into Jerusalem amidst rejoicing and on a donkey. “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (9:9). 

Maybe it isn’t a surprise to see people shouting in the middle of a parade, but… why were the crowds present in the first place? They hadn’t received a text message that the Messiah was coming. There weren’t billboards announcing Jesus’ arrival. There were no television or radio ads publicizing the date and time of the Savior’s arrival, so from where did these crowds suddenly appear? God’s divine hand was clearly intervening to clarify the magnitude of this event. And they didn’t just shout any old thing, but very specific words that Mark recorded: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (11:9-10). Was it mere coincidence that the shouts of the people echoed Psalm 118? No – prophecy was being fulfilled. 

So no, these details don’t detract from Jesus’ humility so much as they draw attention to the fulfillment of Scripture. For that reason, Jesus’ humility is ironic and one-of-a-kind: his humility is by its uniqueness attractive. The one quality that goes against drawing attention to oneself is exactly the quality that makes Jesus so attractive. It wasn’t pride – to be known for the sake of being known, or to be famous for the sake of being famous – that compelled Jesus. Rather, his perfect humility set him apart. His humility is attractive because it’s unlike any other humility the world has ever seen.

There are two elements of Jesus’ humility that make it stand out (aside from the simple fact that his humility was perfect!). First of all, his humility is remarkable because of who he is. Don’t you love how Paul put it in Philippians? “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (2:6). Jesus, eternal Jesus, God-in-the-flesh Jesus, answers to no-one Jesus, did not use his divine nature to trample over every earthly authority – which was itself established by him in the first place! 

Aren’t those the examples of humility that stand out most to us? When we see the highly regarded and those to whom society looks up act in humility, it is more noticeable because of who they are. So when Jesus acts in humility, it stands out so much because of who he is.

The other element of his humility that makes it stand out? Who we are. We know who Jesus is, and that he would humble himself for anyone defies our understanding; that he would humble himself for the likes of us takes humility to a whole other level. Turn the table for a moment. For whom are you more likely to humble yourself – a king, a president, a brilliant professor, or… your garbage collector, the barista who messed up your order, or the less-than-helpful customer-service rep on the phone? It’s one thing to humble ourselves before those we look up to, but to humble ourselves before those we perceive to be beneath us? That’s not so easy. 

Jesus achieved both in his humility. His divine nature didn’t go to his head, so to speak, and he humbled himself for you. For you, who think too highly of yourself too often. For you, who think too little of Jesus too often. For you, who stumbles back into sin so effortlessly. For you, so disinterested in really putting any effort into your life of sanctification and these habits of his grace. He, who is everything, humbled himself and “made himself nothing” (as Paul put it in Philippians 2:7) for you, who are nothing apart from him.

The One who is everything made himself nothing so that you, who are nothing, might have everything. And because of what he humbly rode into Jerusalem to do, you do have everything. Do you understand that? His humility is the reason you have everything. Humility that will see him serve the least of his disciples on Maundy Thursday. Humility that will see him scorned and suffer on Good Friday of this week. Humility that will see him die and be damned by the Father. 

All so that you could not only avoid all of that, but also in its place receive everything. Your sins are forgiven. You have peace. You have no reason to fear death. You have the promise of never having to go without what is needed. What does the world offer that compares to the “everything” you have through your humble Savior? Nothing that lasts. Nothing that endures. Nothing that makes a real difference. Nothing but fickle, fleeting, empty promises that will never satisfy. Let go of your attachments to the nothing of this world in favor of the “everything” you have in Jesus.

And then take seriously Paul’s encouragement: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Be humble like Jesus. You already have everything. Treat others as better than you. Think of others before yourself. Serve others before you serve yourself. Let the person cut in front of you in line. Let the driver into your lane. Let her go first. Put yourself beneath everyone else and in your humility find genuine joy that comes from being able to because you already have everything through him who made himself nothing for you.

“Habits of His Grace: Patience”

adbLeave a comment

(Luke 13:6-9)

In what area of your life could patience make the greatest impact? Would your relationships be better off if you were able to slow down and not rush them along so fast? Would you lose your temper less? Would patience enable you to be a better listener? Would it help you make better decisions if you patiently thought things through a little longer? Most of us would see some sort of benefit in some way if patience was a little more prevalent in our lives.

As we consider this habit of his grace – patience – though, would you really find it all that valuable if I spent the rest of this post focusing on tips and tricks to help you become more patient in your life? Would “5 Steps toward More Patience” or “3 Things you Can Do Right Now to Practice Patience” radically impact your ability to be more patient? I don’t think so. The truth is, to help us become more patient we don’t need more information, but rather transformation. Real patience requires real change. And the good news is that Jesus is in the business of changing people. Jesus can transform us because Jesus alone can provide the patience we’re pursuing. 

Let’s start with where I think we most often tend to go wrong. When the matter of patience comes up, the way we frame the discussion around it is that we need more of it. We tell others they need to be MORE patient. As we reflect on an incident when we lost our cool, we tell ourselves we should have been MORE patient. But consider this: what if MORE patience isn’t the solution to the problem? Have you ever found yourself pressed for time, knowing you needed to jump in the shower before rushing to the next thing, but you just didn’t have the time? So what is the quick fix? Throw on an extra swipe or two of deodorant. Spray on a quick spritz of perfume or cologne. And it works… kind of… briefly… maybe. But not so well. You can try to cover it up, but inevitably the reminder that you didn’t actually shower has a way of coming back to haunt you later on at some point. In the same way, hoping that MORE patience will solve the problem is like a smelly teenager trying to cover up a bad case of B.O. with half a stick of deodorant – it doesn’t work! 

Why doesn’t it work? Because it doesn’t address the real problem. Just as the stink needs to be scrubbed away in the shower rather than covered up, so something else is needed rather than just thinking MORE patience will solve the problem. Do you want to know what the real problem is? Do you want to know what question you should be asking yourself, rather than “Why am I not more patient?” Instead of “How can I become more patient,” here’s the real question you ought to be asking: “Why am I so impatient in the first place?” That’s an entirely different question, isn’t it? So if we want to see more of this habit of his grace in our lives, if we want patience to prevail, the solution isn’t seeking how to add more of it; the solution must address the root problem – our impatience.

“How do I become more patient” is really asking “Why am I so impatient?” My guess is that as you wrestle with that question more, you will likely uncover a lie or two that you have been believing. Why is it hard for you to be patient with other people in general, even those you’ve never met? Might it be that the lie replaying itself over and over in your head is the lie that all your problems are someone else’s fault? If you actually believe that lie, of course it will be difficult to be patient with anyone else if you view everyone else as the cause of all or most of your problems. Why do you lose it so quickly with your children? Is it because you believe the lie that they should somehow be perfect, perhaps even stemming from your own upbringing under the impression that perfection was what your parents demanded? Why do you have so little patience with your spouse? Is it because you believe the lie that your spouse should be more like you by now, and every time you are reminded that they aren’t, you perceive it to be a deficiency instead of just a difference? No, the solution to our problem is not to cover up the stink of our impatience by adding more patience; the solution begins with determining the source of my impatience. That may very well mean uncovering a lie that you’ve allowed yourself to believe for too long.

While it’s easier and far more tempting to blame others for testing our patience or causing our impatience, if others were actually the problem, we’d spend the rest of our lives trying to fix something we can’t fix. You’d perpetually be impatient, because you cannot possibly fix everyone else who “makes you” impatient. But you can fix you. You can fix your impatience, if you are first willing to acknowledge that you are the real issue and not someone else. But if I continue to deny that the real issue is me and my impatience, I’ll never really address the problem in a way that will bring about meaningful change, and I’ll miss out on the grace that is able to make a real difference.

Consider the parable Jesus told. What was the real issue? Was the fig tree not given the opportunity to produce figs? Was it not planted in good soil? Was not enough time allowed? No, the tree had been given every opportunity to produce fruit, but failed to do so. The tree was the problem, not anyone or anything else! It wasn’t producing fruit. So as we apply this parable to the fruit of patience, we must take ownership and realize that whatever fruit of patience we’re looking for in our own lives is our own responsibility and not anyone else’s. The scary part of the parable is that as much patience as the landowner exhibits, even extending the life of the tree for one more year, there still was the very real possibility that failing to bear fruit resulted in being cut down. That is really the sobering reality of each of these habits of his grace – to realize that a failure to produce them in our lives gives the landowner – God – every right to cut down the trees that don’t produce!

Jesus, the master storyteller, has a way of making things very personal, and when he gets personal, he leaves his listeners with nowhere else to look but in the mirror at ourselves. If you look at the discussion which led up to Jesus telling this parable, he took it from a general question to a personal point. Tragedy had struck when Pilate had murdered some of the Galileans and disgraced the Jewish faith by mixing the blood of those murdered in with the blood of the animals scarfed in the Temple. Just as they do today, people at that time presumed that it must have been karma – for those people to be on the receiving end of such tragedy, they surely must have done something wrong to have had it coming. But Jesus quickly shut down that line of reasoning and made the whole thing very personal when he concluded, “But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Lk. 13:5). 

What came next was the parable in these verses of our text. Rather than pondering the status of others who suffered in this way or that, Jesus said the real issue is where do you stand? What do your branches look like? Where is your fruit? And through the parable, Jesus wants us to take away two important points: 1 – God is very patient in looking for our fruit, and 2 – God’s patience with us has its limits. 

Notice that God patiently extended the time for the fruit tree to bear fruit! Isn’t that just like God? And why is he so patient? Peter explained it: “[God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God is patient because he wants to save everyone. One of the points that came up in our recent discussion of the book, Rooted, was the honest struggle of reading the Bible – especially the Old Testament, because there are parts that drag along and simply aren’t all that exciting. But you know what the Bible is? A record of God’s patience. His people turn away, and God patiently sends one prophet after another to turn them back to him. His leaders display one sinful character flaw after another, and God patiently corrects and uses them anyway. God’s people turn away; God waits for his people to return. God is patient, so the parable captures that habit of his grace by providing more time for the tree to bear fruit. 

But notice this also: God appointed a limited time for the tree to bear fruit. It wasn’t open-ended. It wasn’t indefinite, until “some day.” It was one year in the parable. What does that one year represent for us? Right now! This very moment! For today might be day 364 of the one-year extension given to the tree to produce fruit. If so, then tomorrow is day 365 and the year is up. Time to cut down the trees that still aren’t bearing fruit! 

God is patient – don’t worry! God’s patience is limited – don’t wait! Both are true, depending on which message you need to hear. If we think little of God and his Word right now, don’t wait! If we are concerned about not measuring up before God, don’t worry – Jesus is our patience! 

John realized that. In the Book of Revelation he wrote, “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus…” (Revelation 1:9). John recognized what the gospel leads us to recognize: in Christ, my impatience doesn’t disqualify me, for not only has that sin been paid for, but it has also been replaced by Jesus’ perfect patience. So my impatience has been paid for and replaced with Jesus’ patience! That means God does not judge you on the basis of your impatience, but rather on Christ’s patience, and his patience passes the test of perfection for you. 

Now then, go and bear the fruit of that patience. Your impatience has been forgiven. It isn’t who you are. In Christ you are patient, so let the repentant fruit of patience flourish on the branches of your life. We don’t have to cover up what we aren’t anymore. In Christ, we can blossom into what he has made us: patient. We have everything to gain in dealing with others patiently. And I believe that patience can be one of the most notable qualities that Christians can demonstrate today if we are going to show how attractive grace is, because patience is sorely lacking in our world right now. It is a precious commodity that is exhibited far too infrequently. So let us make the most of the time we have, the year we have been given to allow God to dig around us and fertilize us with his Word and Sacrament, that we might produce abundant fruit of this habit of his grace, patience.

“Habits of His Grace: Compassion”

adbLeave a comment

(Luke 13:31-35)

To faithfulness and determination on our list of habits of his grace, today we add compassion. What is compassion? Compassion changes people. It can change the way we look at others and treat them. Compassion can change those receiving it. It can change those extending it to others. 

Author Stephen Covey, in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, shared a personal experience of his.He recalled one subway trip on a Sunday morning that was a rather quiet, uneventful ride. That ended when a man with obnoxious and loud children got on. As his children were being disruptive and terribly misbehaved, much to the annoyance of the rest of the crowd in the subway, the man himself seemed clueless and irresponsibly uncaring about his children’s behavior. That only made the whole situation even more disturbing to everyone else in the subway car. When he had determined enough was enough, the author turned to the man and, pointing out his children’s inappropriate behavior, asked if the father would intervene and do something about it. The man came to attention, as if he had been lost entirely in another place. He apologetically explained that he and his children had just come from the hospital where about an hour ago their mother had died, and he supposed that he and the children weren’t sure how to deal with it. In an instant, the author explained that frustration and irritation were washed away by a flood of compassion. It brought about a complete shift in perspective, away from selfish personal annoyance to an earnest desire to offer any assistance whatsoever to serve the man in his moment of need. Compassion changed everything. 

As Jesus provides us with the framework to explore this habit of his grace today, here is what I hope we take away: that in our reflection on compassion, we give a good amount of thought to the tension that exists between feelings and action as they pertain to compassion. Furthermore, depending on how we might be inclined to weigh in on that discussion right now, can we have a better understanding not only of the difference, but also of how we might personally need to lean one way or the other (more feeling or more action) in striving for more compassion in our lives? 

The root definition of compassion is “to suffer together.” While we think of it as an emotion or feeling that we experience when seeing someone else suffer, it’s a fair question to ask if one can truly suffer with another without any action being taken. Suppose each night for a week a different needy person knocked on your door asking for any food you could spare. While your heart went out to them each time, you explained that you were just not in any position to help them. As you later retell that story to someone else and explain how much compassion you felt toward those people in need, but that you didn’t do anything to help any of them, how convinced would the person listening be that your compassion was genuine? Isn’t it fair to say that as we describe ourselves, feelings of compassion are justified as sufficient, but as we look at others, frankly we’re not all that convinced unless their feelings lead to some sort of action? 

I don’t know if it’s unique to me or if many of us tend to do it, but I have found myself being sure to point out my good thoughts, intentions, or feelings to my wife and others, even – or maybe especially! – when I didn’t actually do anything. “I was going to” or “I thought about,” is then of course followed by some effort at providing an understandable, legitimate-in-my-own-mind reason for not actually doing the thing. Does “I was going to take out the trash” count the same as actually doing it? Is “I wanted to fix that clogged drain” pretty much the same thing as unclogging the drain? I think we know the answer. 

Actually, I suppose we acknowledge this must be a pretty common thing, as we have an expression that lets us off the hook a bit, right? “It’s the thought that counts.” But is it? Especially in our culture today, people are not satisfied with thoughts or good intentions. The only thing that is acceptable is when any action is taken. While this isn’t really the place to discuss social activism, it does raise a fair question about how genuine compassion really comes across if not accompanied by action. How much am I really “suffering with” someone else via feelings or emotions? Does compassion require action?

Do you notice something about compassion when we look at it in the life of Jesus? Compassion as Jesus demonstrated it resulted in action. Every time. In fact, at no point in any of the Gospels do we come across the word “compassion” in connection with Christ that doesn’t involve him doing something. The Gospel writers point out that Jesus felt compassion… and then describe what he proceeded to do. So while the literal definition of compassion is “suffering together,” what we see in Jesus are demonstrations that show the extent of his compassion by virtue of the action that follows. He had compassion on the hungry crowds, so he fed them (Mt. 15:32ff). He had compassion on people who were like sheep without a shepherd, so he taught them (Mk. 6:34). He had compassion on the sick and demon-possessed, so he healed them (Mt. 14:14). He had compassion on the blind, so he gave them sight (Mt. 20:34). Do you catch the theme? Compassion produces action. Say it with me: compassion produces action.

But… not just any action. And here’s where else compassion becomes a tricky thing. Suppose we are convinced that compassion produces action. What action? And for whose benefit? Here’s why we have to wrestle with it: if I am not careful, those good feelings that flow from compassion (Did you know studies reveal that experiencing the feeling of compassion does in fact release what we refer to as the “bonding chemical,” oxytocin?), may merely lead me to take action that makes me feel better. In other words, if the action that results from compassion is merely action that makes me feel better, but doesn’t really meet the need of the person for whom I feel compassion, am I really serving that person, or am I just serving myself?  

Let me explain with an example I believe I have shared before. Two years ago in this same month on a Friday, a young homeless man had come on to the property while hot lunch was being prepared for the school kids. Since we are very cautious about strangers on the property while school is in session, I engaged the young man and began talking with him on the bench outside the church entry. While there were some signs of mental and cognitive issues and a little paranoia, after several hours I got to know his name, his story, and he even showed me his Facebook profile. The longer we sat together, the more I found myself internally frustrated by the fact that this was not how I had planned to spend my day off. Finally, I started to explore how we could help, thinking the sooner I can move him along, the sooner I can get back to my day off. The usual offerings came to mind, so I asked if he needed food or clothes, or if there was someplace I could take him. Then he told me what he really needed, and that’s when I was faced with the ugly reality that my offer to help him was really an effort on my part to wrap up the inconvenience he was causing me. What did he need? A shower. A washing machine to wash his clothes. That was when I was convicted. I realized that while I had the ability to provide him with both of those, I wasn’t really interested in meeting his needs, but rather my need, my desire to be rid of him while convincing myself I did something nice for him. After thinking it through and realizing that my wife was working and the kids were at school, leaving our house empty, he spent the next couple of hours getting a shower and washing his clothes. After a meal and contacting a family member, I later took him to the trolley station to get where he needed to go. 

I had compassion on him, but never had I been so convicted that my compassion was extremely limited. It was defined more by what I was comfortable with than what he actually needed. I wasn’t interested in compassion that produced action in service to him, but rather in service to me. Now that does not mean that everyone would or even should do the same thing in that situation. Not at all. There would be some very legitimate reasons for another compassionate Christian not showing compassion the same way. The point is this: compassion does not necessarily start by asking what others would do in this situation, or even what I should do, but rather “What does this person need from me right now?” 

That was what was always on Jesus’ mind: what does this person need from me right now? And while his compassion didn’t hesitate to take action to address immediate needs, his heart was always set on meeting the most important need. Even when it came to his enemies. Whatever their intention truly was behind warning Jesus about Herod – whether they had ulterior motives for speeding up his demise in Jerusalem, or because they were genuinely trying to help Jesus avoid the same fate as John the Baptist – Jesus’ compassion poured out in his heartfelt response to them. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (v.34). And even their own rejection of him was not enough to sidetrack Jesus’ faithful determination to do what he was born to do! “In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! (v.33). Compassion produces action. Faithful, determined Jesus would take action; he would suffer and die.

It’s interesting isn’t it – “compassion” has the word “Passion” in it? We refer to the final week of this season of Lent as Holy Week or Passion Week. That final Sunday, Palm Sunday, is sometimes also referred to as Passion Sunday. Why do we attach this label to that final Sunday and week of Jesus’ life? Because of his suffering that took place, his Passion. So Jesus’ compassion toward us would be of little value if it didn’t also include his Passion for us. It was his compassion that prompted his Passion, his suffering. Jesus wasn’t just about empty words for you. He wasn’t just about feelings or emotions regarding your situation. Jesus was about action – specifically, suffering, dying, and rising again for your sin and salvation. His compassion prompted him to carry out the one course of action that only he could, the one course of action that we all universally need, the one course of action that alone could serve to reconcile rebellious sinners with a righteous Father. Jesus’ heartfelt compassion carried him to the cross. 

Have you noticed something yet about the three habits of his grace that we have looked at so far yet? They all have that in common. They all end up at the same place: the cross. Faithfulness, determination, compassion – all of them meet up at the cross. And guess what? Spoiler alert: so do the remaining three habits of his grace. 

How then, do we establish in our own lives this compassion, this habit of his grace? We start by letting go of the lie, “It’s the thought that counts.” If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve been far too comfortable living with that lie for far too long. Let’s either let it go, or at least be honest with ourselves that when we’re not willing to allow compassion to produce action, then it’s not really compassion. It might be sympathy or empathy, but it’s not compassion, because compassion produces action. And that’s OK – there is a time for empathy and a time for sympathy! Just realize they’re different from compassion. 

So how does the Holy Spirit work this habit of his grace into our hearts and lives more and more? Each time we must begin our journey of compassion at the cross and go from there. We start with the compassion Christ had for us. Then, as we leave his cross and look to pick up ours as faithful, determined disciples look to do, our eyes will suddenly see myriad ways to carry out compassion toward others, and the Holy Spirit will help us to see how he has enabled and equipped us in such a variety of ways not just to feel, but to act. Not out of guilt – remember Christ’s compassion removed that! – but out of real, genuine compassion. It changes us when we receive it. It will change others when we extend it. 

“Habits of His Grace: Determination”

adbLeave a comment

(Mark 8:31-38)

He wasn’t any more than eight years old when he was dragged unconsciously from a schoolhouse fire. The severe burns over the lower half of his body had the doctor convinced that he wasn’t going to live, or at least never regain the use of his legs if he did live. But he didn’t accept that his legs would never again support him. One time, after being rolled out into the yard in his wheelchair, he threw himself out of it and crawled across the lawn to the fence. He pulled himself up on the fence and began to drag himself along it. He repeated this exercise so frequently that he wore out a path. His resiliency paid off. 22 months after the tragic accident, he finally managed to stand up on his legs. After that, he walked. Then, he ran. And ran. And ran. And ran… until eventually he broke the world record in the mile. Glenn Cunningham, one of the greatest American mile runners, the badly-burned boy who wasn’t going to make it, who was never going to walk again, staked his claim in history because of his determination.

We love stories about determination. We love it when a person overcomes the odds and makes some monumental achievement. We cheer on others who aspire to persist in doggedly climbing mountain after mountain of failure until they reach the peak of success all the way at the top. Movies are made about such stories. Books are written about them. We eat it up. We can’t get enough of it. What is it about stories of determination that draw us in and capture us? Why does determination make for such an attractive trait? Maybe because it is so rare.

When is the last time you were determined to do something… and actually did it? We get inspired to take action. We have good intentions. We start strong. But the repeated ditched efforts in our lives reflect why determination is so rare. If you’re the resolution-setting type, how many of those have you managed to hit this year? How many “someday I’m gonna”s have you been stuck on, and for how many years now? How often have you traded in your determination to do this or that for settling for where you’re at? Why do we struggle with determination?

One thing that gets in the way of our determination? Distraction. We can let ourselves off the hook and blame those distractions on external factors, but that denies that we’re the ones who not only permit them, but actively seek them! We want to be distracted, because it’s far easier than being determined. I’ll say it again: we want to be distracted, because it’s far easier than being determined. Netflix needs me. Facebook flirts. The suddenly super important to-do list that has us whirling around the house like the Tasmanian Devil is – if we’re honest – a replacement for that other thing that we’re avoiding. The longer-than-normal phone call with the person I haven’t talked to in so long is really just another justified distraction. We welcome them all with open arms and we will continue to do so until we admit that it is no one’s fault but our own for allowing them to serve as distractions to determination.

Now it’s one thing if a person wants to stagnate through life denying that these distractions are his own fault, but there is a point when a lack of determination becomes an issue. When is that? When it impedes our relationship with Jesus. And remember that we’re not even talking about distractions that are themselves inherently sinful or wrong! Anything, anything – good or not – that reduces my resolve to maintain and make the most of my faith in Jesus has got to go. 

Satan used a perfectly understandable human concern of Peter’s in his attempt to use him as a distraction to Jesus’ determination. Jesus had explained to Peter the ugly reality of his impending rejection, his suffering, and his death. No one can blame Peter for not wanting to see Jesus experience that! None of us would have acted any differently in the same situation. But when Peter’s concern, normal as it was, threatened to hinder Jesus’ rejection, suffering, and death, it was no longer normal. It had at that point become an instrument of Satan to stifle the Savior’s necessary mission. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men’” (Mark 8:32-33). Peter didn’t realize it at the time, but if Jesus had heeded his rebuke and sidetracked his suffering and sacrificial death, Peter – and all the rest of mankind along with him! – would have ultimately had to suffer the far worse fate of eternal punishment for sin!

Jesus then seized that very moment to teach one of the most important lessons of all for his followers to learn: determination and discipleship are a package deal for Jesus’ followers. Are we determined not to lose what Jesus has already won for us? “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’” (v.34-37). 

Jesus said quite clearly we “must” deny ourselves. That’s a tall order in today’s self-serving culture! Why did you buy that thing? Because self wanted it. Why did you shatter the sixth commandment? Because self wanted it. Why did you cut someone else down with your words? Because self wanted to. Why have you remained so distant from Jesus, worship, and his Word? Because self has other interests that are more important. And it is to lives consumed with serving self that Jesus gives the warning of losing life – eternal life. 

The other part of what Jesus said is that we “must” take up our cross. But, in order for that to happen, have we ever realized that doing so may require that we first must let go of something else? How much can you carry? Are you carrying the right things? What good is it??? If it doesn’t serve your relationship with Jesus, do you need it? Is it really harmless upon further inspection, or is it leaving you carrying so much that you don’t have any extra hands to carry what matters, to pick up your cross and follow? And, are we carrying so much, piled up so high in our arms that we cannot even see Jesus to be able to follow him? Drop it. Let go of what doesn’t matter! It isn’t serving you if it isn’t serving your relationship with him. God help us if the qualification of being a disciple is measured by the perfect requirement of denying self and taking up our cross, for if so, we are doomed!

But always remember what Jesus taught first. “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (v.31). Jesus “must” suffer and “must” be killed because we can’t meet the “musts” that are required of us. We don’t have in us the determination to follow through. No amount of our own determination can save us from damnation. So Jesus stepped in with his “must.” He must do these things because we cannot. And he must do them because he wasn’t OK with the alternative of eternity in hell for anyone. So he must carry them out so that no one “must” go to hell. Even if it made Peter squeamish to think about him suffering and dying. He must.

And he did. Gaze up on Good Friday and see it. There he is. There is your Savior. There is the price of your salvation. There – that – is what determination looks like. 

The “must” has been met. Where our must is a mess, Jesus’ must is the only one we can trust. Jesus’ determination, this habit of his grace, has been carried out perfectly in our place. So we now look to make determination a habit in our lives. 

Jesus also said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (v.38).  Shame over Jesus and/or his words in this generation is not because his words by themselves are so offensive, but rather because this adulterous and sinful generation has made them out to be by making acceptable what is unacceptable. The world chooses filth over faith and so makes faith out to be filth. It calls good, bad and bad, good. So Scripture’s teachings which at one time served as society’s moral compass have become black-listed. And we sense it when we feel as if we must apologize to others for holding to and believing certain truths. But stay the course! Remain determined! Be willing to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel, lest we lose both our lives and the gospel for the next generation!

We love stories about determination. Will our own be a story of determination? Will we let our Savior’s determination for us drive and direct our own? Will we add this habit of his grace to our tool belt, along with faithfulness? Will we combine the two – faithfulness and determination – to become a resolute force unafraid to face Satan? Will we set self down to free up our hands to pick up our crosses in pursuit of Jesus? May God’s grace galvanize all of us to make our mark in history as a time when Christ’s church, God’s people, you and me, displayed unparalleled divine determination!

“Habits of His Grace: Faithfulness”

adbLeave a comment

(Mark 1:12-15)

In his book Atomic Habits, author James Clear describes habits as the compound interest of self-improvement. In other words, more often than not, the big changes in life aren’t actually big changes at all, but rather little changes, consistently carried out over time. That is precisely the magic of compound interest – it is nothing more than incremental growth multiplied exponentially over time that builds wealth. 

Of course, for anyone to find this perspective attractive enough to consider implementing any new habits, one monumental assumption is necessary: an individual has to see the value of self-improvement. It may shock or surprise you, but an astounding number of people actually choose to simmer and stew in their current situation, retaining a woe-is-me victim mindset that prefers the narrative of negativity. They can be so committed to holding on to that view that it goes well beyond just the glass is half-empty perspective; they’re convinced that everyone else but them even got a glass in the first place! But, if we embrace that God’s call for us to grow is not optional, then establishing healthy habits is foundational to that growth.

So why has it been so hard for you to establish habits? The answer may very well be found in determining the driving force behind our efforts at establishing habits. What is that? Often times it’s guilt – guilt used positively or guilt used negatively (“I should do this; I shouldn’t do that.”). Ultimately guilt will give up, because guilt is not a sustainable driving force. It is a rather cruel slave-driver. It cares not where one’s heart is, but only about the end result, only about whether or not the action itself being achieved. Guilt is relentless and suffocating.

But Christians realize that we have something else at our disposal, something far more powerful than guilt: we have grace. Grace-motivated habits instead of guilt-induced habits is really what this series is about. And our approach will be different. While we will spend a good amount of time focusing on Jesus and his habits, we need to be crystal clear on why we’re doing so. We are NOT doing so to reduce Jesus to something so insulting as merely an example for us to follow. You don’t need more examples to follow. There are plenty of good ones in the world. The problem isn’t finding examples to follow; the problem is our inability to follow them. And frankly, Jesus came to be far more for you than just an example to follow anyway. 

He came to be your Savior, your Substitute. And to do that, we want to appreciate how he carried out what was necessary to be our Savior: his active obedience and his passive obedience. They aren’t the same thing, but they’re both instrumental to our salvation, and they’re both crucial for helping us establish grace-motivated habits.

What do we mean by Jesus’ passive obedience? This is the work of Jesus that we most frequently associate with carrying out our salvation. Jesus passively endured the punishment, suffering, and death that were carried out against him. This is not only remarkable because he was innocent and didn’t deserve it, but even more so because as God, he had the power and ability to keep it from happening. Yet he chose not to! He passively allowed others to inflict it all upon him because he was experiencing it as our Substitute, enduring the punishment and judgment that our sins deserved. He passively paid the price so that we wouldn’t have to. 

Less commonly addressed is the importance of Jesus’ active obedience, which refers to his ability to actively maintain holiness in his thoughts, words, and actions throughout his whole life. As a God of justice, the Father’s requirements for a right relationship with him are that sin must be paid for and that 100% round-the-clock perfection be maintained. So if Jesus had only died for our sins, our salvation would be incomplete. We needed a Savior, a Substitute who could also live perfectly for us. Jesus actively resisted all temptation and conducted his entire life with complete perfection. He actively obeyed all of God’s demands. It is his active obedience that will serve as the focus of this series, and the grace flowing from that active obedience that will enable us to pattern our Habits of His Grace.

So let us appreciate the first of our habits of grace: faithfulness. How do we define “faithfulness?” Often times it is used almost interchangeably with “commitment.” Being faithful is viewed as being committed to doing what you said you were going to do. You work at a job faithfully for years. You are faithful in your marriage. To be faithful is to be committed to staying the course. While I don’t think that’s a bad definition or way of understanding it, maybe we’re overcomplicating it a bit. Perhaps a simpler understanding of faithfulness is merely being full of faith. Filled with trust. Full of conviction. Being full of faith not in my own ability to stay the course, but in God’s promise to stay his course in my life.

We see Jesus being full of faith, even when he was virtually empty of the basic necessities of life. “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him” (Mark 1:12-13). Forty days in the dessert lacking – not being full of, but almost empty of – the things we take for granted. He had no suitcase with several changes of clothes. There was no cooler being pulled behind him to keep food fresh and ready any time he was hungry. No comfy cozy bed in which to sleep and no roof over his head. He was running on empty in just about every way imaginable. 

Except faith. Even without all that he was missing, Jesus was still full of faith, or faithful. When everything else is lost or gone, and faith is all you have, you see that faith is all you really need. Jesus faithfully stood up to each of the devil’s temptations, as the other Gospels record. And Jesus’ faithfulness was not only on display in his ability to keep from falling into the devil’s temptation in the dessert, but also in his faithful preaching, “‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” (v.15). Making that even more noteworthy, John had already been imprisoned for proclaiming that message, yet Jesus did not put his message on mute, but proclaimed it faithfully. 

Jesus wasn’t alone in demonstrating this habit of grace, his faithfulness. The Holy Spirit and the Father got it on the action, too! The Holy Spirit faithfully directed Jesus into the dessert in the first place, knowing it was necessary for Jesus to succeed in battle against Satan and his temptation in our place. And when Jesus did succeed, God the Father faithfully sent angels to attend Jesus in his time of need, just as he had promised in Psalm 91:11, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” See how our faithful Triune God works in perfect harmony with the faithful obedience of the Son!

And what difference does his faithfulness make when it comes to you developing this habit of grace? All the difference in the world! His faithfulness not only fills in the cracks of your unfaithfulness, as if you were almost there but just needed Jesus to finish it up for you! No, it’s his whole record of faithfulness, not yours, or your lack thereof – that already counts toward God! Who of us would feel confident in making a case before God based on our own past faithfulness? Would we like to point to the number of times our actions were more reflective of a person without faith than a person of faith? How about the times that doubt and worry about our situation smothered any sense of faith and trust we ought to have had in God’s promises? Our general lack of commitment, our unfaithfulness just in our relationship with God, which hops all over the place from lukewarm to cold to hot – is that the kind of “faithfulness” we wish God to take note of on our accounts? Let us hope not, for we know what the eternal outcome of such flawed faithfulness would be!

Let Jesus’ faithfulness in the face of temptation in the desert be the source of confidence for the faithfulness God demands. Let the price Jesus paid on the cross be sufficient payment for your unfaithfulness. So you have been freed from the guilt of your unfaithfulness, which has been replaced by the grace of his faithfulness! Do you understand? You have been freed from your own disastrous track record of unfaithfulness and freed for a guilt-free life of becoming more and more faithful, with every ounce of fear of failure having been removed. The Father already has counted the Son’s perfect faithfulness to your account. You aren’t left lacking. You aren’t left in your unfaithfulness. You are faithful, for Jesus was faithful in your stead. 

So be what you are, be faithful, for in doing so, you are merely living up to how God already sees you in Christ. Be full of faith in your commitment to growing and developing your faith. Be full of faith in your marriage. Be full of faith in your friendships and interactions with others. Be full of faith as you let your light shine on social media. Be full of faith and stand out in a faithless world. Be faithful, not because you must, but because you already are in Christ Jesus. 

I don’t know about you, but I get excited about this kind of stuff. You may not consider yourself to be into growth and personal development, but let me challenge you to reconsider. That’s one of the many unique blessed perks of belonging to Jesus – he does the growing in us. The Holy Spirit will see to it that you grow and develop personally – that’s his job. We call it sanctification, or growth in Christian living. It’s who we have been made to be. It’s who we are. It’s how we can faithfully make an eternal difference in a faithless world that concerns itself with what is temporary. Your faithfulness matters. God can use it to make a huge impact! 

How then can you establish this habit of his grace – faithfulness – in your day-to-day life? Don’t overwhelm yourself with all the areas that you could develop this habit and then do nothing. Pick just one area and commit to following through with it faithfully. It might be daily Bible reading. It might be worshipping weekly. It might be giving consistently. It might be scheduling prayer. It might be witnessing intentionally. Be confident that the compound interest of this habit of his grace will not only lead to self-improvement, but will also build up and bless Christ’s Kingdom as well.

“Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 2)

adbLeave a comment

(Mark 9:2-9)

I don’t know how they used to do it. I don’t know how husbands knew what they needed to bring home when their wives sent them to the store to just “pick up a few things.” I suppose in the past, grocery stores didn’t have quite so many options as they do today, but still, the number of choices provided for just about any product in any aisle is paralyzing. Thank goodness for phones that can snap a quick picture and send it to the wife to confirm the correct item! Otherwise, it might be virtually impossible to be able to determine exactly which brand/size/style of any given product is needed.

God has not left us with so many options when it comes to determining the Savior we need. There is just one, and we are not left guessing who he is. For on that day, on that mountain, the three disciples with Jesus knew he was the Savior they need. “There he was transfigured before them” (v.2b). This was not natural. This was not normal. This was an other-worldly glory, a supernatural experience, a divine glory, if even only a taste! Then the Father verified Jesus with his own verbal stamp of approval. That means there are no guessing games to play. There is no possibility of a mix-up or a switcharoo. “Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (v.7). The Father spoke! He expressed his love and confirmed Jesus as his Son and Savior we need! 

If these words of the Father sound familiar, it’s because we focused on them not too long ago in our Bounce Back series at Jesus’ baptism. Almost identical words were spoken by the Father to Jesus at that time, at the beginning of his ministry. Here they are again, like bookends, demonstrating the Father’s satisfaction with every detail of Jesus’ life and ministry. So these words validate Jesus. They speak of the Father’s approval. He is the Savior we need.

We talked last Sunday about the challenge we face in distinguishing wants from needs, and how that can spill over into the perception we have of Jesus – is he the Savior we want or the Savior we need? He surely did not come to limit himself on such a small scale as merely meeting our wants. His primary goal is not our short-lived worldly happiness, but our eternal heavenly joy. So finding the perfect mate, landing the ideal job, and hitting full stride in your health are not real high on his to-do list for us if he is not yet very high on our to-do list. Recall what was stated last Sunday about the danger of placing our wants ahead of our needs: when we pursue happiness first and Jesus second, we get neither; when we pursue Jesus first and happiness second, we get both. When you don’t seem to have the things you want to bring you happiness, perhaps it isn’t the lack of those things that is the cause of your unhappiness, but rather that you’re looking for happiness in the wrong place.

We can find true happiness in the Savior we need. There are two elements to consider when wrestling with Jesus being the Savior we need. The first is Jesus – is he, as opposed to someone or something else, what we need? Does he meet the criteria of what is needed? We need a Savior who could meet both divine and human requirements, Son of Man and Son of God, one bound by the law who could also keep the law in our place, one who could die and yet whose divine death could be counted sufficient for all. We needed a Savior would not stay dead and let death have the last word. We needed a Savior who could flawlessly fit every single prophetic foretelling that God provided centuries ahead of time. Only one fits all of this criteria, meaning Jesus alone can serve as the Savior we need.

But the other element to consider is our own personal perspective: do we realize that we really need him? “Yes, of course!” you say. Let me ask you why. Why do you need Jesus? I don’t mean “you” collectively, as in a whole group, but rather “you” individually. And no, I’m not going to let you off the hook with the general sentiment, “Well, I’m a sinner, and sinners need forgiveness, so I need Jesus.” That’s nice. “Yes, we’re all sinners who need Jesus, so let’s gather every week to hear about general sin and general forgiveness for sinners that Jesus came to offer and then we’ll be on our merry way for another week.”

But what is it that makes you a sinner? What sin? “Oh no, pastor, we don’t bother going there. We don’t get into the details, because that’s nobody’s business. We don’t get specific, because doing so might cause me to feel… guilty.” And that’s the cardinal sin of our day, isn’t it – making someone else feel guilty for something? Society – and not just society, mind you, but more and more even voices within the church itself – refuse to let anyone get away with making someone else feel guilty. 

Have we considered, though, that others can’t make us feel guilty – at least not a godly guilt that leads to repentance? We have become accustomed to terms like shaming and bullying. Real and reprehensible as these can be in certain contexts, we have slipped into casually using them interchangeably with guilt and the idea that we can make someone else feel guilty. We’ve put the burden of guilt on the other person instead of ourselves in cases where we’ve actually done or said something wrong. In so doing, we’ve essentially freed ourselves from ever having to feel guilt!

But guilt is an internal feeling that comes from our awareness of either not doing something we know we should do, or doing something we know we shouldn’t be doing. If someone else points out something I have done or have not done on the basis of God’s Word and I feel guilty about it, good! Thank God! The law has done its work and accused me, convicted me, condemned me, and the result is an overwhelming sense of guilt. That only means you realize that your sin is real and that it really troubles you. Good – it should! Sin isn’t some mere slip-up or whoopsie that is relatively harmless; it is damning!

If we avoid guilt or treat it like some untouchable disease or some unspeakable trauma which no one should ever have to experience, then here’s the bigger question: where does that leave grace? What need of grace do we have if there is no real guilt from real sin that I’ve really committed that really condemns me before a real God who is righteous and holy and has at his disposal the ability to cast me to a real hell forever? If none of that is real, then grace might as well be a mythical unicorn or Bigfoot that is fun and fascinating, but which has no basis in reality! But if all of it is real – which it is! – then we absolutely need grace to be real, too, for there is no acceptable alternative that can ever bail us out of hell. 

So the Father showed the disciples that grace is real by showing that Jesus is really his Son, and therefore, really our Savior. See how real guilt and real grace collided in Peter’s reaction to this mountain top experience. “Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)” (v.5-6). He was terrified, yet wanted to stay! In the presence of perfect holiness, guilt is exposed. To know Jesus as our Judge is terrifying! We want to get as far away as possible from his presence! But to know that grace is the standard by which he judges removes that terror. So we find ourselves never wanting to be far removed from the One whose calling card is grace, but to be closer and closer to him, for grace alone is the only sure and certain hope of forgiveness and salvation. 

Mark even provides us with some bonus material to cement that grace! How else did Jesus prove himself to be the Savior we need? He reminded the disciples he was going to rise from the dead! He predicted it. He didn’t raise the possibility of it. He didn’t offer some conditional clause – if this, then that, then maybe I rise from the dead. He clearly claimed it! When giving the disciples direction on when it would be appropriate to share what they had seen, he told them to hold off “until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (v.9).

And then he did it. He actually did it! Jesus rose from the dead! No, today may not be Easter Sunday – in fact, as we enter the season of Lent this Ash Wednesday, it is still six weeks away! Yet every Sunday, the day of the week on which Jesus rose, is Easter, because the resurrection is reality. Jesus rose from the dead and far surpassed the status of providing for our wants; he rather won what we need: the Father’s declaration that we are not guilty. The promise that forgiveness of sins is really his to offer, no strings attached. The promise that we, too, will rise again. The promise that there is a place for us in heaven.

So Jesus reinforced the reality of his resurrection to remind us why we need him. But why couldn’t the disciples tell anyone what they had seen? It may help us to reflect what happened after this incident. The disciples made a pretty convincing case that Jesus knew what he was doing when he told them to keep mum – they weren’t ready to explain it. How do we know? Jesus would again tell them he would be betrayed, suffer, die, and rise – and not only did they have no clue what he meant, but they were afraid to ask him (cf. Mk. 9:31ff). After that, they demonstrated their immaturity by bickering back and forth about who among the disciples was the greatest (cf. Mk. 9:33ff & 10:35ff). And then of course in Jesus’ moment of need he was double-crossed, denied, and deserted by his disciples. No, their own behavior would demonstrate quite well that they weren’t ready to explain to others the significance of what they had seen on that mountain that day.

But you are. You are able to tell others what you have seen because you know that the Jesus you need is the same Jesus they need. When you know about something that others need, it’s different than when it comes to your own wants. You may or may not tell others about finding the source of something you want, because you don’t know if they want it, too. But you know that Jesus is what they need, so you tell them where to find him. You tell them about how the Jesus they need is served in heaping helpings right here every Sunday. You tell them about how our kids have the Jesus they need woven into everything they learn at our school. You tell them what is so, so special about this place that you just don’t find elsewhere in the world – it’s Jesus, the Savior they need; the Savior we all need. From here, as we journey through the season of Lent, we see that Savior serve us as our Substitute, through his suffering and his sacrifice.  

“Jesus: the Savior We Want or Need?” (Part 1)

adbLeave a comment

(Mark 1:29-39)

Have you ever tried to hit a moving target? It’s hard enough to hit the bullseye on a stationary target, let alone hit the mark on something that’s moving. Yet trying to hit a moving target is exactly what we’re doing when we spend life chasing after “wants.” Today it’s this and tomorrow it’s that. The next day it’s something entirely different. Before we know it, we have closets and whole rooms and garages and even storage units filled with wants. We seldom take note of how unfulfilling our wants are when we finally get what we want because we move right on to the next want. But we don’t learn. We keep wanting, as if we’ll eventually secure the want that satisfies us if we just stick with it long enough.

Making this hunt for what we want even more complicated is that we think ourselves to be pretty capable of distinguishing the difference between a want and a need. But that line is blurred, too! Do you need new clothes, because your closet is literally bare and you have nothing to wear tomorrow, or do you want new clothes because none of the stuff in your closets and drawers is new and exciting anymore? Do you need a new car because you literally have no way to get from point A to point B right now without one, or do you want one because you crave the new car smell or are just bored with the existing one? Do you need a new phone because the one you have now literally cannot make a call or complete a text or do you want one because it has shiny new features? Do you need that stuff for yourself or for someone else that you just bought on Amazon or did you just want to feel the satisfying rush of clicking the “Add to cart” or “Buy now” button? Our uncanny ability to convince ourselves that a want is really a need rivals the smooth-talking lawyer who has the jury eating out of the palm of his hand. Only we’re not swaying some jury; we’re swaying ourselves!

Now before you go thinking this is just another sermon lamenting that we have culturally accepted the idolatry of consumerism and materialism, think again. While much work does need to be done in our hearts to tear down those idols, there is another concern that flows from our inability to distinguish a want from a need: into which category does Jesus fit? It stands to reason that if we blur the line between wants and needs in certain other areas of our lives, we have to be open to the possibility of that confusion also spilling over into our view of Jesus. So this morning and next Sunday we are exploring the Jesus we want versus the Jesus we need. 

Last Sunday as Mark took us to the synagogue in Capernaum, we got a glimpse of the impact Jesus’ teaching had on people. They noticed it was different. They noticed it was authoritative. They noticed the power of his words and actions, and his reputation went viral. Mark picks up after that with our verses this morning, informing us that Jesus and his disciples went to Peter’s home, where Jesus continued to amaze with his healing power by ridding Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. And then we see the impact that Jesus’ synagogue stint that Saturday had on the town. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door…” (Mk. 1:32-33). The “whole town gathered!” Jesus’ teaching had left its mark, the people waited for the sun to set in order to avoid breaking any Sabbath laws, and then they rushed to Jesus’ door. They must have recognized Jesus’ teaching to be just what they needed!

Wait. On second thought, maybe that wasn’t why they gathered at Peter’s house. It doesn’t appear that anyone was asking him to provide them with a bonus session of teaching. They didn’t come to him thirsting for Jesus to open up the Scriptures even more to them. As it turns out, they wanted more of what Jesus did for the demon-possessed man in the synagogue. Did you hear that? They wanted. Jesus had just been providing what they needed in the synagogue that day – the very words of life; yet that very sameday they tracked him down in hopes of having him meet not more of their needs, but their wants.

But were the townspeople so wrong to depend on Jesus for bringing physical wellness? Isn’t restoring people’s health also a need? To put it bluntly, no. That is, not when concern for physical health overshadows concern for spiritual health. This was always one of the bigger struggles in the previous Bible Information Class that I taught. The very first lesson would open by asking people to list the things that are important in life. Health always came up, which led to some interesting discussion about where it ranked in comparison to spiritual health. It appears our culture has very much bought into the expression, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” 

But consider this: which of these two scenarios do you think has the potential to make a bigger impact on others? Take a Christian hospitalized with a serious, debilitating chronic disease. In one case this Christian makes it clear to other hospital patients and staff that he’s been praying hard to the Lord for healing. Eventually he is healed. Other patients and staff may either take notice of the power of prayer, or they may just as easily conclude that the hospital did its job and healed him (after all, that’s what they were trained to do!). In the other case that same person prays, not for healing, but for patience, strength, endurance, peace to bear up under the disease and accept the good that God promises to bring through it. In that case, healing never comes, but it doesn’t go unnoticed how the patient handles his disease with perseverance and patience and dignity and confidence and so on. In one case, the patient prayed for a want; in the other, a need. Which one would you expect made a bigger impact on the hospital staff and other patients?

Admittedly, this topic can be especially challenging, because I don’t want anyone to walk away thinking that it is not OK to take our wants to God in prayer. That would be wrong of me to state that, since he invites us to do so. So how do we strike the balance between knowing when wants are overshadowing needs? How to we keep our wants in check? We have to understand the root driving force between each. What drives me to seek God for my wants and what drives me to seek God for my needs? Here’s an oversimplified way to help you work through that: am I more interested in my happiness in my life, or God’s happiness in my life? The former is more frequently tied to what I want, while the latter is based on what I need.

Permit a few more examples. A spouse asks to visit with me and expresses unhappiness in the marriage, followed by the determination to file for divorce on that basis that God wants us to be happy. Is that course of action based on our idea of happiness in life or God’s? And this mindset so easily seeps into a number of areas in life. I am unhappy with my job. I am unhappy with my car. I am unhappy with… and since our culture encourages us to appease and satisfy the almighty idol of happiness, we justify any and every action that we think will bring it. 

Only it doesn’t. Why? Because we have it backwards. Here is a spiritual truth that will serve you well if you commit to spending the rest of your life trying to master it: when we pursue happiness first and Jesus second, we get neither; when we pursue Jesus first and happiness second, we get both. Another way of saying it? Put your wants before your needs and you’re gambling with both; put your needs before your wants and you’re likely to get both (because when spiritual needs come first, those tend to shape our wants so that we want more of what Jesus knows we need!).

But if there is a slight caveat to this approach, it is this: God is too good to us! He actually does grant us our wants even when we neglect him for our needs. That was what happened to those who showed up at Jesus’ door. He didn’t turn them away just because they didn’t ask for more spiritual enlightenment or a deeper understanding of the Scriptures, but instead he compassionately granted their requests, meeting their wants with his healing hand. “Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons…” (v.34). God is too good to us! Even when we reverse the order and selfishly put our wants before our needs, he so often graciously accommodates!

Jesus meeting the wants of so many people was not lost on the disciples, who tracked him down the next morning while he had escaped for some rejuvenating prayer. “When they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” (v.37). The implication was that there was no time for prayer – Jesus had more wants that needed to be met! Then Jesus helped his disciples reflect on the major distinction between meeting wants and meeting needs. “Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come’” (v.38). Preaching was Jesus’ primary purpose. Proclaiming that salvation was at hand. Forgiveness would be freely offered at the most expensive cost ever – the cost of Jesus’ own life and blood. Grace would be given, for grace is what is universally needed. Sickness healed and perfect health restored and even demons cast out – all these wants would matter precious little if Jesus had not addressed our greatest need: a repaired relationship with God that each of us has broken with our sin. That is our greatest need. Jesus alone provides for that, making him so much greater than just the Savior we want; he’s the Savior we need. More to be revealed next Sunday as we consider Jesus’ Transfiguration.