Tag: JEsus

Live a Life of Startling Generosity

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(Mark 12:38-44)

When you see the brightly colored “Caution” or “Slow” or sign posted as while driving on the highway, you know that means there is a potential danger or risk ahead, so you pay attention to the warning. You do the same thing as you are navigating through a store or mall and see the yellow sandwich sign that alerts you with a “Caution: Wet Floor.” These warnings are intended to alert you and keep you safe from injury or danger.

Jesus gave a warning sign to his listeners. He told them to “watch out for the teachers of the law” (v.38). But why? Were they a threat to his disciples? Jesus didn’t follow up his warning by pointing out any specific false teachings that the teachers of the law were promoting. Jesus didn’t appear to be emphasizing any physical threat that they posed, at least not here, and not to his disciples. He didn’t alert them to any death threats or assassination plots. So why were they supposed to watch out for the teachers of the law?

So that the disciples wouldn’t become them. The overall picture Jesus paints is that of a group concerned with optics and outward appearance. They were more worried about how others saw them than they were about how God saw them. After all, if they were going to enjoy religion’s version of celebrity status, they had to look the part. The upscale clothing, the special treatment, the constant performance – it was no small thing to pull it all off! They couldn’t dare come off looking like, well… a poor widow, for example. How serious is Jesus’ warning? “These men will be punished most severely” (v.39). Those words really require much explanation, do they!?

It’s a good reminder for us. Yes, we know and believe that it isn’t our outward works, but our faith in Jesus alone which saves. Yes, we know and believe that every sin has been forgiven. These are most certainly true.

However, while all our sins have been forgiven and we are no longer slaves to sin, there’s that lingering part of the old us that will always be attracted to sin and still tempted by it. And perhaps no other sin is more attractive to us than pride. Jesus was essentially warning his disciples to watch out so that their religious piety isn’t corrupted by religious pride. This warning is especially appropriate regarding the topic of giving – especially giving generously – so that we don’t allow our generosity to become tainted by pride and its desire to be recognized.

While Jesus began this section of his teaching referring to the teachers of the law and mentioning the rich people and their gifts, these weren’t the only ones who would serve as his teaching illustrations. There was also a widow. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had some more details about the widow? Something that could cement for us that her gift was purely given, cheerfully and willingly, and prompted solely by her love for Jesus, whom she knew loved her so deeply? When we come up with the deep theological questions in Scripture and wonder about the details of different accounts in the Bible, I can’t recall anybody ever asking about more of the background on the widow from this account. But would’t that be helpful if we could get more of a snapshot of her life, something that would fit more neatly with the rest of the Bible’s teaching on giving and generosity? Would’t that be something?

Perhaps we don’t need it. Perhaps Jesus is allowing us a sneak a peek into the window of her life by contrasting her so sharply first with the teachers of the law, and then with the rich people throwing in large amounts in their offerings.

She obviously wasn’t concerned about the optics – “Hey everyone, redirect your eyes away from the piles of cash everyone else is putting in the offering boxes and get a load of these two copper coins I’m about to drop in!” Neither did she make excuses or promises to be more generous down the road when she might have more to give. No, her gift was quietly and generously given, for it was everything she had. And that kind of gift is the kind of gift that faith gives. Not to be seen or recognized, but simply because that’s what faith does.

Jesus commended her. “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (v.43-44). 

What can we learn from Jesus’ commendation of the widow and his thoughts on generosity? Generosity is not about your money; it’s about your heart. Admittedly, I don’t imagine it’s the first time you’ve ever heard that. Giving and generosity are not matters of amounts, but are a matter of where our heart is at. So when giving and generosity are a struggle for the believing child of God, it is rarely because we are unaware of the fact that it’s a heart issue. Instead, it has more to do with our inability or even refusal to diagnose the heart issues unique to each of us. So let’s work through some of those.

Since no one likes junk mail, whether it’s in your physical mailbox or your email inbox, let’s refer to some of these deceptions that can keep us from growing in the grace of giving as “generosity junk mail.” If God is wants to change our hearts in regard to giving (remember, giving is always a heart issue), then we have to get good at identifying the junk that fills the inbox of our hearts so that we stop believing it and perpetuating it. Let’s consider a few of the more common ones.

    1. “Offerings (or “treasures”) aren’t the only thing God cares about – he also wants us to give him our time and talents.”

    I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, that’s not wrong; it’s true that God also wants our time and talents to be used to serve him.” Technically, you’re correct. But I have to point out the problem with how that statement is used. You know who doesn’t ever make it? Generous people. What I mean is, while it’s true that God has given us so much more than just financial blessings to manage and to be generous with, there is typically a reason people are quick to redirect to time and talents: because they struggle with being generous financially. And again, not because it’s an issue of dollar amounts, but of the heart. So be careful before you share such a statement, and do a little digging into your own heart to make sure you aren’t expressing it as a spiritual sleight of hand to hide your reluctance to grow in the grace of giving.

    Here’s another piece of generosity junk mail we need to discard:

    2. “I’ll give more when I have more.”

    Look back at the widow again. If she had taken that approach to giving, Jesus wouldn’t have this story to tell! She would have waited until those two copper coins added up to something much more. Instead, she gave what she had – all of it. When is the last time you gave all that you had to God? It’s been awhile for me – like never!

    Here’s a question to consider that lines up with some of the promises God gives in Scripture. While we’re sitting back on the “I’ll give more when I have more,” mindset, what if God is saying to himself, “I’ll bless him with more once he starts giving from what I’ve already given.”? So while we’re waiting on God to bless us with more to give, he’s waiting on us to give right now so that he can bless it. 

    This next one is a piece of generosity junk mail that is probably more common outside the church, but Christians still struggle with it, too.

    3. “All the church cares about is money.”

    It’s a statement typically spoken by those who refuse to acknowledge their own unhealthy attachment to money. It’s not easy for them to let go of it, so they turn the church into the bad guy, and whenever giving is mentioned, it’s blown out of proportion as “all that’s ever talked about.”

    To provide a balanced perspective, however, certainly churches and pastors have mishandled or mismanaged that trust; of course it has. And, there are certainly some who resort to legalism rather than gospel-generated giving. But these churches don’t represent all or even most churches by any means. So let’s discard that piece of generosity junk mail.

    And one last piece of generosity junk mail:

    4. “I just don’t have enough after all my expenses to give more than I’m giving.”

    And you never will. This junk mail exposes two possible issues: one, a spending issue, or two, a priority issue. When is the last time you’ve tracked your expenses and evaluated where unnecessary or frivolous spending was present? Perhaps that should be more of a cause for concern than it is. Could our “expenses” include purchases that we could still live quite comfortably without?

    The other issue with this attitude is that it turns giving upside down. When we give our left overs we’ll never have enough left over to give more. That’s because giving needs to be realigned to the top of the list. When giving comes first, we see how God keeps his promise to provide for everything else that we need. Until giving tops the list of priorities, it’s impossible for us to rise up to the level of being a generous giver. 

    As believers, we can have open conversations about giving, because we know that we’re the ones God is trying to grow through this process. We also know that the widow wasn’t the only one who gave everything. Jesus did the same thing, but on a scale that impacted far more people. With her two copper coins, she “put in everything.”

    So did Jesus. Jesus went a step further and “put in everything” with his whole life. He went all in. He didn’t hold back. Jesus gave it all by giving his all.

    “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). There is nothing of greater value that could ever be given than Jesus’ life, and he gave it up for you and me. The widow’s two copper coins were her “everything”: Jesus’ life was his “everything,” and he generously gave it so that we could benefit eternally; so that we can live forever. 

    Let’s live right now like we’ll live forever and use what he gives us here and now so that we can help as many others as possible live forever. Let’s discard the junk mail and give with startling generosity.

    DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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    For Our Veterans

    Compassionate Lord,
    Sadly, on this day of remembering our veterans, we acknowledge how often and how easily they are also forgotten. Many who are struggling – often as a direct result of their service to our country – do not receive the care they need, whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. Provide them with those much-need resources, as well as the knowledge and ability to access them. Extend to them the healing and support they require to overcome any struggles or setbacks they are facing. Through all of these outlets of compassion, may they know how much they are valued and appreciated.

    Thank you, Lord, for the sacrificial spirit of our veterans. They stand out in a me-first society that is more inclined toward individualism than what is best for the greater good. They were and are willing to submit and follow orders that frequently result(ed) in the displacement and relocation of their families to different states and even other countries. Being deployed and apart from spouses and children meant many family milestones were missed. Finally, many also faced the cruel tragedies of conflicts and battles, and saw and experienced unforgettable anguish and trauma. May we always be grateful to our veterans for all of these sacrifices, and for so many other sacrifices they’ve made of which we are unaware. Bless them with your favor for their service today and always.  

    In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

    Live Like It Only Gets Better (because it does)

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    (Isaiah 25:6-9)

    Imagine you are paging through a travel magazine filled with articles about trips people have taken to destinations all over the world. One traveler is sharing his experience off the grid at some remote getaway while another vacationer is raving about a posh family-friendly resort. And of course the articles are sandwiched between endless pages of ads to fly with this airline or set out to sea with that cruise line or to remember to use this agency when renting your next car. 

    Then, a certain page suddenly catches your eye. It is a beautiful mountain. As your eyes zero in on the text on the page, it’s an invitation to visit a mountain destination that is like nothing else. In fact, as you start reading, you recognize these are the words of Isaiah 25! They almost read that way, don’t they, like some ad in a travel magazine attempting to lure you to some ideal destination like no other? It’s as if Isaiah is a travel agent, trying to coax us to set our sights on visiting the most unforgettable place we could ever imagine. 

    And what a destination it is that he’s describing! Only… where is it? Where is this spectacular place Isaiah mentions? Where can one find this magnificent menu? Where is this mountain?

    Technically, the answer is one of Isaiah’s favorite references throughout his whole book: Mount Zion. Located in Jerusalem, Mt. Zion has been and still is considered one of the most sacred destinations in the world. However, if you want to get to where Isaiah is directing us when he mentions Mount Zion, you won’t find it by booking a trip with your travel agent or punching it into your GPS for directions. As with so much of Isaiah and Scripture in general, real names and locations are often used to depict spiritual concepts and truths. So where is Isaiah talking about?

    The question is not so much where, as it is “who?”

    Isaiah is referring to the Church. Now, that is admittedly a confusing answer… until we remember that his Church isn’t a building, but people, people who have been made holy and are being made holy through faith in Jesus. But it isn’t just Isaiah who uses this picture to describe believers.

    In the visions given to him which he records for us in the book of Revelation, St. John shares similar figurative imagery. “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). Those believers represented by the figurative number of 144,000 include God’s holy people filling churches all over the world on Sunday morning, and not just sanctuaries, but homes, and even filling heaven itself!

    So this destination Isaiah is pitching to us is right here in front of us, wherever believers are gathered. And it’s also where we’ll be in heaven. What makes this destination the ideal? Only here, in the body of Christ, believers everywhere, Christ’s Church, does the promise that it will get better hold true.

    Sure, we extend those words of hope and optimism to others – “it will get better” – but outside of the Church, on any other mountain, we have zero authority to back up such a promise. The individual who just got out of a bad relationship may in fact slip right into one that is even more toxic. The employee exasperated by a lack of ethics may quit working for that company and end up unemployed for months or even years. The friend struggling to recover from some complicated surgery may come through it only to become diagnosed with an even more threatening illness. We can wish each other well and wrap the nice tidy bow of “it will get better” around the words we offer to others, but the truth we all know from experience is that it may not get better and it may in fact even get worse!

    Unless you are on this mountain. Unless you are in the Church. Unless you are a believer.

    And what’s more, it being so isn’t exclusive! It isn’t only for this heritage or that culture, this people or that language. It’s for everyone. Isaiah’s word choices are not accidental. He intentionally refers to “all peoples” (v.6,7), “all nations” (v.7), “all faces,” (v.8), and “all the earth” (v.8).

    One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is that it is for everyone! All people! When people truly know what we have here, on this mountain, can you imagine anyone not wanting it? Of course not! No one wants to remain where the words “it only gets better” are nothing but an empty expression. Everyone wants those words to be true. And here alone, for believers in Jesus Christ, they are.

    To help us appreciate how good we have it as the people of God, Isaiah uses a very relatable picture: food. The Scriptures include so many pictures of gathering around great food for that we can hardly ignore them. There’s a reason. Consider how many milestones and memories in our lives revolve around people gathering around a meal. Sure, a great meal can be enjoyed alone, but it doesn’t come close to comparing when we are surrounded by those we love and care about, taking in that meal amidst conversation and laughter. So many of our fondest memories include enjoying good food with family and friends. 

    And to be sure, what Isaiah is holding out for us isn’t some Happy Meal or something from the discount menu, but a feast – a feast with the best stuff imaginable! The best cuts of meat, marbled with just the right amount of fat to fill it with flavor. He isn’t describing some boxed wine that is more concerned with value than quality, but the best stuff, the boldest, most full-bodied bottles of wine you’d ever have. Isaiah’s point is that God doesn’t hold back from his people! He’s got the goods, and he has every intention of laying out such a feast for us!

    The menu isn’t the only thing that catches our eye on this mountain. In fact, it isn’t even the most notable thing. There is something missing from this mountain. Isaiah describes it this way: “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever” (v.7-8). Did you catch what’s missing?

    Death! There will be no more death! The veil that covers the face of those mourning the death of a loved will be removed. The sheet laid over top of a the dead body will be unnecessary. And if something has been swallowed up that means it’s gone, there’s nothing left of it. So it is with death!

    How can this be? It may be no surprise to you that these verses also serve as one of the readings for Easter Sunday. How appropriate! On the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we are assured that death has no permanent hold over us. The Resurrection means sin has been paid for and the eternal death sentence has been served and so yes, it will get better when death is no longer a part of our vocabulary because it will no longer be a part of our experience.

    And right along with the removal of death itself will be the removal of any tears accompanying it. Isaiah described, “The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken” (v.8). No more death results in no more tears. 

    Isaiah is so full of rich picture language to help provide perspective to what we have right now and what is waiting for us. Yet no matter how picturesque and impactful the imagery is, we’re still left with our imagination. We’re still left wondering. We’re still left waiting for what it will be like.

    But as we observe All Saints Day, we also have on our hearts and minds those who aren’t left wondering. They aren’t imagining. They aren’t waiting. Because what Isaiah is describing here in order to help us grasp what is ahead for us, is the present reality for them. They do not have to settle for the earthly picture of the mountain as it is reflected in the church and Word and Sacrament; they have the real thing. They do not have to settle for an earthly menu of rich food; they have the real thing. They do not have to imagine what it will be like to be on the other side of death and living forever, freed from tears; that is their present reality. Yes, we are saints, but they have been sainted. They have joined the church triumphant, their praises of God’s salvation now echoing alongside every saint in Christ Jesus who has gone before them. 

    And we will join them. We WILL live forever with them, and with the One who made it possible, with our Savior Jesus himself. Therefore, when we say it will get better, we absolutely mean it, because it will. Now that may not be the case for the remainder of our days here on earth; in fact, they may very well digress and get worse! Tomorrow and the next day and the day after that may increasingly disappoint us!

    But not forever. Not by a long shot. No, forever is guaranteed to be better. And you’re probably aware of this, but just to remind you, forever is a pretty long time. A forever of “better” makes the temporary “not-so-good” that we may face here on earth pretty insignificant, doesn’t it? So let’s live like we’ll live forever. Let’s live like it only gets better. Because it does.

    How does that change things for you? For starters, you don’t have to exhaust yourself trying to make right now the best. It won’t be. It can’t be. It will never measure up to the best that is coming. So why are you trying to make heaven on earth? There is no perfect job, no perfect relationship, no perfectly raised children. Give yourself a break from pretending you can manufacture those things or usher them in when the best is reserved for the life to come. 

    And when you don’t have to restlessly chase after those things here and now, running yourself ragged in the meantime, you are free to live differently. You are free to live right now, with everything as it is – not as you think it should be or wish it would be – but as it is, with an eye toward preparing for the best to come.

    That means you can empty the junk drawer, declutter the closet, and pitch all the dead weight in your life right now so you can zero in on life on the mountain. Make your decisions and take action from a mountain perspective, from the vantage point of Christ’s kingdom. Make sure that you are solidly stationed there. Make sure that we crowd as many as we possibly can on that mountain with us, where the menu is delectable, where mortality is not even a thing, and where our mantra never gets old: “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation” (v.9).

    You’ve probably heart the story of the fork. A young woman – far too young from our human perspective – was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was given a few months to live. As a believer, she wanted to arrange to meet with her pastor to work through the details of her memorial service. They had discussed her preferred Scripture readings, her favorite hymns, and agreed on a sermon text. As their time together was wrapping up, the pastor was getting ready to leave. That was when the woman recalled her one last request.

    She wanted to be buried with her fork.

    The request puzzled the pastor, so he asked her why. She explained that, having grown up in the church, she was no stranger to plenty of potlucks and social gatherings involving food. On more than one occasion, when the tables were being cleared off, a sweet member nearby would lean over to her and tell her to keep her fork. It didn’t take her long to figure out why. If the tables were being cleaned, that meant dessert was going to follow. And that meant cake or pie or some other delectable dessert. She held on to her fork because the best was yet to come. So she explained to her pastor that when people see her in her casket holding on to a fork and ask why, he can share her story and explain to them that she was holding on to her fork because she knew the best was yet to come.

    So live like you’re hanging onto your fork. Rejoice that you’re on this mountain, gathered here with God’s people for a foretaste of what is to come. Live today and tomorrow and the next day with the absolute confidence that it only gets better, because Jesus had made sure that it does. 

    The Courage of “No”

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    (Daniel 3:16-28)

    As the loud chant bellows out from the nearby minaret beckoning all to bow down in prayer, those around you pause whatever they are in the middle of doing to roll out their prayer rug. They kneel down in the same direction and the sea of random people involved in a variety of activities all around you quickly becomes an ocean wave, curving and swaying as arms and bodies are raised up and then curled back down again in prayer.

    You stand out like a sore thumb.

    Everyone else is on the ground kneeling in prayer while you are the lone standing figure, as if to announce to everyone around that you are a clueless foreigner. What do you do? Do you go with the flow and lower yourself to the ground, at the very least to avoid drawing attention to yourself? Do you go so far as going through the same motions as everyone else to blend in, even though you don’t worship their false god? 

    We can speculate and imagine the mix of emotions that might come over us in such a hypothetical situation. But in Daniel 3, when Nebuchadnezzar’s call and command to worship was sounded, there is no need for speculation over how the three displaced Israelites might have responded. The details of the account are clearly provided for us.

    But before we get to their response, it’s important to know that they knew what they were getting into. Prior to their actions, Nebuchadnezzar’s warning had been communicated: “Then the herald loudly proclaimed, ‘Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace’” (Daniel 3:4-6). It did not matter what religion a person practiced or what language he spoke, to choose not to worship the ninety-foot image of gold was to face imminent incineration.

    The flames of jealously spreading from other officials ensured that word would quickly spread regarding the three foreigners who had the audacity to ignore the king’s command. Those three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar, who was beside himself that anyone would so brazenly disregard his command. He said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the… music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” (v. 14-15). Talk about a terrifying threat!

    But Nebuchadnezzar’s overconfidence would be outshined by the courageous confidence of the three men who stood up to him. “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (v.16-18). 

    See how courageous they were! Compare their courage with today’s version of courage, where activists throw tomato soup or some other liquid on works of art. Where groups of people park themselves in the middle of the road. Where protests are organized and rallies are coordinated. How much real courage do such actions require?

    But take note of the radical approach taken by the three. They said “No.” That was it. They didn’t have to coordinate some widespread effort. They didn’t rally the other exiled Israelites to join them in some major rebellious protest. They didn’t manufacture something online in an effort to make it viral.

    They simply refused to heed a command to sin by worshiping an idol. Think of it: one of the most legendary of all Sunday school narratives – this account before us – was simply a matter of having the courage to say “no.” Before we jump right to the miraculous conclusion of this account, let’s just linger here a bit on the power of “no.” 

    Today (Reformation) has historically been a pretty big deal in the Lutheran church. We are observing the Reformation. It may be a relatively unfamiliar term to many, but Reformation refers to a period of church history often considered to have been set in motion by an event that took place on October 31, 1517. That was the date on which a monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. Through these theses, his intent was to establish points for discussion with the leaders of the church of his day over concerns he had about what was being taught and practiced. 

    Luther had been doing a “dangerous” thing: reading his Bible. Doing so allowed the Holy Spirit to bring to light legitimate concerns that weren’t lining up with the Word of God. At stake amidst these concerns was the very foundation on which the whole of Scripture stands: justification by grace alone, through faith alone, revealed through Scripture alone. The more the Reformation was fanned into flame through the words and writings of men like Luther and other reformers, the more the church of his day dug in its heels. It refused to acknowledge that it had not only drifted away from Scripture in its teachings, but was brazenly contradicting the clear teachings of the gospel, that we are not saved by our own works, but by faith in Jesus’ merits alone.

    On numerous occasions, both formally and informally, Martin Luther was expected to take back his words and writings opposing the church so that he might remain in good standing. The most famously recorded incident was before the Diet of Worms, on which occasion he is famously quoted as saying, in response to the church’s demand that he retract and recant, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.” If you allow me to paraphrase what Luther said and simplify it just a little bit, Luther said directly to the sacred and secular authorities who demanded his compliance, “No.” The refusal that three young Israelites in Babylon had boldly uttered before Nebuchadnezzar was boldly uttered before the highest authority of Luther’s day, too. “No.”

    Yes, it takes great courage to say “No.” But there is also great power in “No.” And we don’t have to stand before princes or kings to utter it. In fact, it isn’t likely that any of us will ever find ourselves in that position. But that doesn’t make our “no” any less powerful. Your “no” to the social hour invitation after work that inevitably ends up with inebriated coworkers is powerful. Your “no” to your significant other’s invitation to cross the line sexually is powerful. Your “no” to another of your child’s club team tournaments because it’s on a Sunday morning is powerful. Your “no” to “just try” the drug everyone else around you is high on is powerful.

    Your “no” is not nothing. It is much more. It is a yes to what is right. It is yet one step further removed from the edge of the abyss that sin beckons us to stumble over into unbelief. It is a yes to my identity as a believer and child of God who is walking in the light. It is a yes to the blessed paths of righteousness that hold out so much more for us than any invitation to sin ever can or will. 

    Notice also that the “no” of the three before Nebuchadnezzar did not need to be accompanied by added insults or denigrating of the king. There refusal was, in fact, carried out quite respectfully. There was no badmouthing behind his back or even to his face.

    Could we learn from that? Could our “no” be just as effective – dare I say even more effective, when not accompanied by the disparaging remarks that are so common in our culture today? Can we politely disagree without tearing down the person with a different view? Can we show our disapproval of the words or actions of another without raising our voice or boiling over? How puzzled would others be to see such responses that are so out of the ordinary today? What might result? Could the reaction of others look something like that of the Babylonian King?

    Note again his reaction after the three men’s “no” resulted in a date with the incinerator, only for them to walk back out of the furnace, bearing not even the slightest hint of flame, no smoke or singe of even as much as a hair on their head or hands. King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God” (v.28).

    Yes, the miracle was absolutely amazing, but what was it that truly struck King Nebuchadnezzar? They were willing to die for God! They were willing to give up their lives for the Lord rather than bow down to an idol and easily escape death in that way. 

    Yet even on the heels of such a bold show of courage, it wasn’t Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego whom Nebuchadnezzar praised, but God. Let that sink in! Their “no” resulted in an unbeliever praising God! And their “no” results in believers praising God today, as we are still inspired by their courage. Surely if three young believers in a foreign country can utter a “no” to the face to he most powerful authority in the world at the time, we can courageously do the same much more frequently.

    But it isn’t easy! It takes courage! So what empowers our “no”?

    Our Savior who said yes.

    No, not to sin, but to the condemnation resulting from sin. Jesus knew the furnace of hell awaits all who challenge God’s command of perfection and rebel against it and he said yes to that condemnation anyway. He knew Satan’s relentless efforts to convince him to call the whole thing off and not give his perfect life up for repugnant mankind would only intensify during his weakest moments at the end, and still he said yes. He knew the Father, to whom he had turned again and again during his life and ministry, would turn away from him in excruciating abandonment, and still he said yes. Jesus, and all that he willingly said “yes” to in our place to spare us from eternal hell – he is what empowers our “no.” 

    If you’re familiar with the Jack Pine, you know what it takes for its seed to spread and eventually sprout. It takes heat. Not just a hot day, mind you, but the heat of a flame. Only the heat of flames are enough to soften the resin surrounding the seeds that are protected inside the pine cone. So the wildfire, the very source of destruction of so much else in a forest fire, is what allows the Jack Pine to reproduce.

    So it is with our faith. Life is relatively easy when all is well. When it is, though, our faith is like a fallow field, resting, unused and mostly inactive.

    But when the flames are kindled or when the fire is raging in our lives, faith cannot remain fallow. It will not. Faith responds to the fire by burning brighter, fueled by the gospel and charged by the Holy Spirit. Faith is inspired by the believers who have gone before us, the Shadrachs, Meshachs, and Abednegos, the Martin Luthers, our forefathers and our grandparents and parents. Emboldened and all the more courageous because the fires demand its response, faith grows, it thrives, and tears down enemy strongholds, calling out Satan and those in service to him and with a gospel-generated fearlessness that can’t come from anywhere else. And what does such a bold, courageous faith proclaim? It says… “No,” one of the most courageous words God’s people can ever speak.  

    DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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    For the Opportunity to Worship

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

    In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

    Follow with Family

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    (Ephesians 5:21-6:4)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Following Together

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    (Numbers 11:1-29)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Stumbling Humbly

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    (Mark 9:30-37)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Are You Waging a Winnable War?

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    (Ephesians 6:10-18)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Most importantly, we have Christ himself.

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

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

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

    Power with Purpose

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    (Mark 7:31-37)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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