Tag: sermon

Your King Comes to You

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(Zechariah 9:9-10)

Rejoice and shout – two things that weren’t very prominent during the six weeks of the season of Lent. Even with the additional services on Wednesday evenings, the spirit of worship was not so much one of rejoicing and shouting, but rather repenting and sorrow. While this is an appropriate attitude and approach during a season marked by penitence and confession, Zechariah now implores us to turn the frowns upside down and rejoice and shout. And Palm Sunday, marking the start of Holy Week, certainly sets the tone for such exuberance, amidst processions of palms accompanied by shouts of Hosanna. 

Indeed, isn’t it always true that God’s people can rejoice and shout? Whether times are good or bad, the believer has every reason to rejoice and shout, doesn’t he… doesn’t she?

Or not? Is there too much gloom in our lives, clouding our view and keeping us from rejoicing or shouting? Does some past sin with its present consequences still haunt you today? Or does it trouble you that your sins don’t bother you more? Are you right now dealing with something so heavy that it feels like you’re in a fog and life just continues, not slowing down to wait for you to catch up? Is life in general just really putting the squeeze on you right now, so that one thing just seems to keep piling on another?

We often feel like this because we’re not so great at keeping the spiritual at the forefront of our lives. I tell people I have the easiest job in the world, which is true, but at times it’s also the most frustrating, because of how easily overlooked the spiritual side of things is in our lives. I get to listen a lot, so I hear lots of struggles and challenges. And, while I don’t want to diminish the role of pastoral care of discernment, as important as they are, I will say that an awful lot of what I do and say as a pastor is simply asking questions like, “Does the Bible say anything about that?” “Did Jesus provide us with any promises that might apply to that?” So what is the frustrating part? That we sometimes seem to be so incapable as believers of incorporating such questions and considerations into our day-to-day lives. 

Others may be better at looking to their Savior and his Word during such times… and still struggle to find reason to rejoice and shout. When we feel that way, it is probably for one of two reasons: 1) we’re trying too hard, or 2) we’re not trying hard enough.

We’re trying too hard when we imagine that Jesus came to make heaven possible, but that it now depends on us to get there. This can show itself when our own perfectionist tendencies don’t allow us to live in the joy of unconditional grace. We want the both/and of grace and rule following, and procedure, and policy, and consequences, and… etc. What may really get under our skin is our constant observation of others not really measuring up as Christians. “A Christian shouldn’t… a Christian should… that’s not very Christian… etc.” We know the Bible says Jesus did it all, but what that really means in my mind is that he’s now watching to see if I do my part. We’re trying too hard, and insist that the joy of Christianity is not found mostly in what Jesus did, but mostly in what he calls me to do. No wonder such Christians seem to lack joy in their lives!

We’re not trying hard enough when we treat forgiveness as an endless commodity that frees us to be lazy and unconcerned about living good lives. So, rather than allowing grace to spur us on and drive us to live stand-up lives, we’re quick to gloss over our sins with, “It’s OK, we’re forgiven.”

No, it’s not OK! Yes, we are forgiven, but sin is never OK, and never should we be OK with it or even comfortable with it. That’s not at all why God extends his grace to us. And when we try so little in our Christian living, and our effort is so minimal, should we wonder why grace and forgiveness have lost their luster? We no longer stand in awe of how loving and gracious our forgiving God is because we’ve lowered the bar so much in our Christian living. We don’t even realize how much we’re dragging God down and diminishing him when we do that. So why would a believer in that case find reason to rejoice or shout?  

God’s people at the time of Zechariah didn’t see much reason to rejoice or shout, either. They had already been centuries removed from their golden age under King David. Their nation had split in two, with the Northern Kingdom going into exile first, followed by the Southern Kingdom being transplanted to Babylon. Now that a contingent had been allowed to return back to their homeland, it was a far cry from what they had recalled. Not only did their homes need rebuilding, but what was left of the temple, their place of worship, only served as a painful reminder of how far from glory they had fallen. What was there to rejoice about? Why shout anything other than laments and cries of despair? 

Zechariah gave them a good reason to rejoice and shout. “See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v.9). With remarkable precision, Zechariah brought into focus the blurry image of the future, the time when God’s people would experience a glory that wouldn’t simply rival that of King David, but would surpass it. That time would be when David’s greater Son, the Messiah, would arrive to fight the most important battle ever to be fought – the battle that would determine where souls spend eternity.

Zechariah gives us a good reason to rejoice and shout. Let’s avoid either extreme of trying too hard or not trying hard enough and look with fresh eyes and ears at what the prophet Zechariah is actually telling us. “See, your king comes to you…” (v.9). Pause. Let it sink in. Take note of the careful word choice the Spirit led Zechariah to use. This is not just any king, but “your” king. This is not some foreign superpower coming for conquest, coming to conquer you and subject you to his wrath or oppression; he is your king. 

And he is coming to you. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work! If there is a need or a request, it’s brought to the king. The people of the kingdom go to the king and humbly beg an audience with him to plead their case. They hope their request is not unwarranted or out of order, so that it doesn’t result in punishment or wrath. That’s how the relationship is supposed to work. The king sits atop his throne and hears this case and that as they are brought before him.

But the king Zechariah speaks of comes to us! What does that say about you and me? What does that say about him? How highly the king must think of his people to approach them and not the other way around (as it is with all other religions)!

And, how does he come? Backed by an army to destroy us and make us his subjects? Not at all, but righteous and victorious. To those trying too hard to stake a claim in their salvation by earning it, what is left to earn or work for if the king of righteousness – your king of righteousness – comes for you? He brings his righteousness with him, for you. He has no need of your attempts at righteousness. Ours will never measure up to his anyway. He alone is perfect. Holy. Righteous before God. Stop trying so hard to earn the righteousness he alone has secured and which he alone freely gives. Instead, rejoice! Shout! 

And to you not trying hard enough, can you really go about your life unaffected and unfazed by the victory he came to win for you? Can you treat it so casually and with such indifference that it doesn’t cause you to want to eagerly be his subject and serve and thank him in every way possible? Can we be so unresponsive and uncaring toward our king who came to bring us security and safety by his victory? Can we go through so much of this life without a yearning desire to know this king better and to prioritize our relationship with our victorious and righteous king?

Especially when we know him by name. We have the unique and blessed privilege of seeing Zechariah’s depiction come to life in Matthew’s Gospel. In chapter 21, Matthew tells us the crowds shouted (cf. v.9) and that the whole city was stirred (cf. v.10). Zechariah’s prophecy was unfolding on the first Palm Sunday! Yes, it was Jesus on the first Palm Sunday who entered Jerusalem “lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (v.9). Rejoice! Shout!

We know that Zechariah was talking about Jesus, and we know that Jesus came just as Zechariah said he would. And, we know why Jesus came into Jerusalem. It was to fulfill the rest of what Zechariah promised God’s people. Our king promised, “I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” (v.10). But for Jesus to proclaim peace, he had to first secure it.

For those in Zechariah’s day, nor even in Jesus’ day, our king didn’t come to us to secure that peace on a battlefield or by some ground-breaking military strategy. It wasn’t a peace from worldly rulers like Pilate. It wasn’t to overthrow Rome. The peace he came to bring would require a cross and a sacrifice – his own.

You sense the crowd’s disappointment over the course of Holy Week as this reality sank in. The king of righteousness and victory rode into Jerusalem to finally restore Israel to its former glory, only to end up in what looked like defeat at the hands of Rome, hoisted up on display like so many others who tried to challenge Rome’s mighty power. 

Little did they know, and little do far too many still today know, he was victorious! He did secure peace! By the very cross that looked like failure, he extended not just his arms to die, but his very life to forgive the sins of all people, bringing reconciliation between rebel sinners and their righteous God. Yes, the events that unfold this Holy Week are why he is – and we are – able to proclaim peace to the nations. Rejoice! Shout!

Let that peace first dwell in your own heart. It will, when you take your foot off the gas and stop trying to manufacture the perfect life/marriage/family. It will, when you stop pretending that what you’re really looking for is on the other side of overspending, over-scheduling, over-working, and over-exerting yourself. You’ll find that peace when you stop looking for it and realize that in Jesus, it has already found you. “See, your king comes to you…” (v.9).

He came to you. He comes to us in baptism. He comes to us with his body and blood. He comes to us through his Word. Peace isn’t found in pretending our own self-righteousness gets you closer to him; it’s found in realizing he brought his righteousness and victory to you. That peace in Jesus, your king, is yours right now. Isn’t it time you started actually living in it? 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Focused Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Nevertheless, they can also be filled with distractions. On their own, such distractions would pose difficult enough challenges for us, but when coupled with our short attention span and inability to focus, worship requires work! Minimize distractions for us while also sharpening our focus and attention. Let the texts of our songs and hymns touch our hearts. When the Word of God is read and preached, enable us to dial in with both our ears and our minds, giving thought to what you are revealing to us. Draw us into a deeper dialogue with you when praying. Make us mindful of the gifts we bring as offerings to you. Take hold of our hearts this morning in worship, and fill them richly with your divine grace and blessing.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Continued Joy of Easter Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred, and none more so than Easter worship last Sunday. And, just as with other milestone events and holiday highs, sometimes we feel the emotional swing of letdown in the days or weeks that follow. Let it not be so with Easter! The Resurrection isn’t a one-and-done, but an ongoing, eternal reality for us. The tomb is still empty. Jesus still lives, and always will, and so will we. Lead your faithful followers back to fill up churches again this week, to still listen with wonder as the blessings of the Resurrection keep unfolding in Scripture, and to sing aloud the Easter hymns with all the exuberant joy of Easter Sunday. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Life

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(John 11:17-45)

If you’re familiar with John chapter 11, then you have already stood in awe of the rock-solid faith of both Mary & Martha. Martha professed to Jesus her confidence in the Resurrection when she stated that she knew her brother would be raised on the last day. “Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day’” (v.24). In one beautiful confession, she acknowledged believing both that Jesus would return on the last day and that when he did, all believers would rise again, including her brother. 

Yet her faith was not just a forward-looking faith; in looking backward, it also assured her of how differently her brother’s sickness could have ended. “‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died’” (v.21). We see Mary demonstrate the exact same confidence. “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’” (v.32). Subtle as it might be, notice they don’t express mere optimism that it could have gone differently if Jesus had arrived earlier, saving Lazarus from death, but complete confidence that it would have gone differently because Jesus would have healed him. 

First of all, where does this kind of faith come from? To get the full picture, I think that any time we come across John 11, it should always be read with Luke 10 in mind. That’s where Luke records for us the account of Jesus at the home of Mary and Martha, long before Lazarus had even been sick. At that time, Martha was busying herself tidying up the house and preparing food for Jesus. In her mind, Mary was just sitting around doing nothing while she did all the work.

But Jesus saw it differently. He used that opportunity not to rebuke Martha for her loving service, but to remind her that Mary had made the better choice: to prioritize hearing the Word. Whenever we have the opportunity to listen to Jesus, take it.

Why does that account fit so well with what we have here in John 11? Because it would appear that over the course of time between that visit from Jesus and the death of Lazarus, the sisters took Jesus’ encouragement to heart, prioritized his teachings in their lives, and their faith was strengthened as a result. That would explain the sisters’ beautiful expression of confident faith that Jesus would have healed Lazarus if he had arrived earlier. 

Of course, that kind of faith comes with a catch, doesn’t it? When we know what God can do, it can lead us to struggle when he doesn’t. Some who were present expressed that very struggle when they witnessed all of the grieving and sadness caused by the death of Lazarus. “But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’” (v.37). If he was able to act, then why didn’t he?

As you faced the ugly, gut-wrenching reality of the death of someone close to you, perhaps you’ve had similar questions weigh heavily on you. You’ve wondered it previously: why didn’t Jesus, who reveals in Scripture both that he can heal disease and raise others from the dead, why didn’t he intervene when it came to my father, my mother, my spouse, my loved one? He could have, but instead, he did nothing. Why? Well-intentioned fellow Christians have tried to provide every possible response to appease this frustration, but their answers don’t satisfy us. We still come back to this: “if God could have, then why didn’t he?”

Or, like Martha, you’ve both confessed and struggled with the reality of a Savior who was capable of healing and holding off death, but did not. “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (v.22). Do you hear the confident trust in her words, coupled with the longing of what her heart truly desires? She both expresses confidence that Jesus had the power to save her brother from dying, but also that, “it’s not too late, Lord – and I am optimistic that even now you can choose to grant my heart’s desire and raise my brother from the dead.”

Is it too much to ask of God to somehow have asked even this sort of miracle in the life of my loved one? Why not a miracle? Why not my loved one? Was my loved one not worthy of this type of death-defying miracle that Lazarus received? Am I not worthy of it? 

Before we allow Jesus to address and answer these questions, we want to remember how God himself feels about death. And, like no other account in Scripture, this event provides us with a powerful example.

At the beginning of this whole narrative, we see the risk Jesus was willing to take to deal with death: his disciples were afraid for his own life! When Jesus shared his desire to go to Lazarus, they were shocked. “‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’” (v.8). They realized Jesus was putting himself in danger by going anywhere near Lazarus, where he would be putting himself right back in the thick of those trying to kill him. Is there really any question if Jesus cares about people dying when he’s willing to put his own life on the line to do something about it???

We also experience Lazarus’ death from Jesus’ perspective. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ (v.33-36). “Jesus wept!” And it wasn’t just because he missed his friend – the one he was going to raise back to life in just a moment! – but also because he personally witnessed firsthand the devastating effect death has on people in this world. 

How much does God care? Since Jesus came into this broken world, let’s not presume he doesn’t care about death or loss. He’s actually the One person able to do something about it. And he showed it powerfully with Lazarus. “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go’” (John 11:41-44). Can we question if God really cares about people dying after a miracle like this? Hardly!

But we must go further, because Jesus also knows what happens to those who die physically who are also spiritually dead at the same time: that they are lost forever to hell. God expressed this concern through the prophet Ezekiel, saying, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). So yes, God certainly cares about death, and far more than we could imagine, as his heart is concerned not just about the pain of needing to plan a funeral, but the possibility of being lost eternally. 

But we must go further still. Why did Jesus raise Lazarus? Was it simply to dry the tears of mourning loved ones? To undo the sting of death?

He revealed it by his own words when he spoke to his Father, explaining the deeper intent behind this miraculous occasion, “that they may believe you sent me” (v.42). God knows our greatest need: faith in him! God knows there is no hope for anyone who does not believe.

Even before Jesus arrived at the gravesite, he had already said the same thing to his disciples. “[Jesus] told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe” (v.14-15). God knows our greatest need: faith in him! God can do so much more than raise a corpse to be alive again; he can bring dead souls to be spiritually alive, guaranteeing not just an extension of a longer life here on earth for a few more years, but for an eternity! 

And his raising of Lazarus from the dead didn’t just bring Lazarus back for a few years, but rescued souls for eternity. “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him” (v.45).

Isn’t that how God operates? We have tunnel vision, focusing on the one thing, and all the while God is thinking of the bigger picture. He gave sisters back their dead brother, but he gave who-knows-how-many onlookers the greatest gift of all: saving faith in him. They heard Jesus’ powerful words and saw them in action with their own eyes, and through it, the Holy Spirit gifted them with faith and eternal life. Jesus gave so much more than just life to the dead!

The resurrection of Lazarus was not a promise that God will miraculously raise our loved ones from the dead here and now.

It’s a promise much greater than that.

God WILL raise all those in Christ on the Last Day, and it will be forever. God knows our desire and exceeds what we could ask for by promising not just a few more years together in this short blip of life that barely even registers on the timeline of eternity, but he promises forever together for all who believe in him. 

Lazarus died again. You will die. I will die. We will all have our own John 11 story. But it’s not the dying that sets us apart. We have that in common with all people. Everyone dies.

But what sets us apart, what is uniquely shared among us and all believers, is that we know the One who lived again. We know the One who still lives. We know the One who will live forever. And through faith in him, we know that we, too, will live with him forever, together with all of our loved ones who in faith fall asleep in Jesus. 

Water

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(John 4:5-26)

The Word of God can be a challenging book to read. It can be difficult to see the big picture of how it all fits together. It can be frustrating to wrestle with why God thought certain sections were worth including in Scripture. Remembering where a certain narrative is recorded or which book includes this verse isn’t always so easy. Struggling with doubts about why the Bible is the one religious book we can trust, while all the others are man-made fabrications that lead people astray. It can all be overwhelming.

This is why it is good for us to sit alongside Jesus and the woman at the well. It’s as if we are right there with them, longing for a rest, taking some time to slow down, pause, and recover with the refreshing interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. After all, to make sense of the Bible, to sort it all out, is to see Jesus and spend time with Jesus. Only when we know him do the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. Through time spent with Jesus, we get a glimpse into the window of the very heart of God.

We see a Savior packing all of the work of soul-saving and salvation into his short, three-decade-long life, taking time out of his ridiculously busy schedule for just one soul. To see him care so much, to be so invested in one heart, to cast aside all cultural taboos and any faux pas because the eternity of even one soul matters more to him than the opinion of others and how he comes off – this is to know God as he wants to be known. So let us enjoy our time together as quiet bystanders in awe of Jesus’ love for people, for individuals, as he provides exactly what this woman – and we – need. 

First things first, how and why did Jesus get to this point? Our account begins rather abruptly with a “so,” leaving us wondering what preceded. What preceded was an explanation of why Jesus had to be on the move. He had been in an area with a high population of religious leaders. They were starting to take note of Jesus’ influence, which was surpassing that of John the Baptist. It may have been that Jesus didn’t want to draw more of their attention and have to worry about more frequent interactions with religious opposition at this point in his ministry. It may have been that Jesus didn’t want to lend to the perception that he and John the Baptist were rivals. Or, since it wasn’t going to be too long before John the Baptist would find himself in prison, Jesus may have left to avoid a similar fate. 

On top of all of those considerations, geographically speaking, there were other roads Jesus could have traveled to avoid going through the heart of Samaria. Many Jewish people would do just that to avoid the unfavorable shadow of a “purebred” Jewish person having to have anything to do with a “mutt” Samaritan.

But right before this interaction, John records for us, “Now he had to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). “Had to,” didn’t mean there were no alternative roads he could have taken to avoid Samaria, because we know there were. No, “had to” means that this encounter was divinely appointed. It was slated to happen on God’s eternal planner that Jesus would radically impact not just one woman’s life, but, as a result of this very encounter, that many in the whole town would eventually come to call him their Savior by faith.  

She was slow to get it at first, as we all are. But, given the circumstances, it’s understandable that she was not expecting any conversation to unfold with this weary traveler by the well. Not only did the man initiate the conversation with a woman, which was culturally uncoomon on its own, but she recognized, likely by his dialect, that he was a Jew, prompting her shocked response at being asked for a drink. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) (v.9). No upstanding Jew would have been willing to drink from the bowl or cup of a Samaritan. 

Take note, however, of how Jesus responds – not just to this inquiry, but to each concern the woman expresses. Rather than diving into a treatise on the past and present relations between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus begins to direct the conversation to the one thing that mattered most. She needed to understand and ultimately believe that he came to bring her not what she thought she wanted, but what she needed: eternal salvation. 

Even as Jesus steered the conversation toward the spiritual, referring to the “gift of God,” making mention of who was asking her for a drink, speaking of “living water,” and finally even mentioning “eternal life,” still her reply demonstrated she wasn’t tracking. “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water’” (v.15). Figuratively speaking, she was still looking down into the well, when Jesus was leading her to look up to the heavens. She was stuck on the physical and temporal, while Jesus longed to turn her attention to the spiritual and eternal. 

You ever have that kind of frustrating conversation? The one where you are gradually trying to ease your way into a tough or challenging discussion that needs to happen, and the other person doesn’t pick up on what you’re really talking about? More often than not, those situations are our own fault, because we’re not speaking clearly and we’re expecting the other person to do the heavy lifting in the conversation. We’re trying to avoid saying what we should actually just come out and say and hoping the other person picks up on it and connects the dots. Then we’re the ones who get angry when they don’t, when it’s really our fault that we aren’t communicating clearly. 

This case, though, was not one of Jesus lacking clarity in his communication; rather, it was an example of the chasm that exists between fallen sinners and a righteous God. If you need a reminder of how wide that chasm is, just look at how thick the Bible is! We’re so obtuse and spiritually clueless that God needed to record one account after another to show us our lost condition. He needed to cover every possible path someone might think they could pursue, only to arrive at a dead end every time.

In its simplest form, God’s law is easily summed up with the word “love.” “Love me,” God says, “and love your neighbor.” That’s it! But for us to see how miserably we fail at it, God records take after take throughout history of people failing at loving him and others perfectly. To our shame and embarrassment, he has to spell out specifically the countless ways we violate his command to love.

Jesus’ next request of the woman shows just that. “He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back’” (v.16). In an effort to officially shift the conversation into the spiritual realm, Jesus brings up her current living situation, knowing full well it will raise the issue that needs the most attention: the condition of her heart. That’s what God’s law does. It reveals what we think is hidden. It shows what we think can be covered. It displays what we feel can be tucked safely away unnoticed. And she realized it.

Her reply shows that her awareness has shifted from the physical to the spiritual. “‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem’” (v.19-20).

Some take the view that the woman was attempting to change the topic away from the matter of her adultery. However, it seems just as plausible that she realizes the conversation is a spiritual one, her sin has been exposed, and now she is naturally focused on what to do about it. So she asks about the right way to worship, presuming that must be the way to go about it. She wants to see if this man, who is obviously a prophet, may have insight into the right way to worship. 

By nature, that’s how we operate, isn’t it? In some way or another, when we do wrong, get caught or called out, or just plain feel guilty about it, we naturally resort to thinking about what we must do to make everything right. Indeed, though it may not revolve around a building or a Sunday morning service, for many, that’s really their understanding of worship, isn’t it? Many view worship as the required activity that we have to keep up with to counter all of the ways we’ve violated God’s law of love. We want God to just tell us how to make things right so we can carry on with our lives. 

But Jesus shoots down that idea when he explains to the woman that she’s asking the wrong question, and that worship isn’t about finding the right location, but about something else entirely. He explains that “salvation is from the Jews” (v.22), and as such, what matters far more than location, religious rites, or even right behavior, is worshipping “in Spirit and in truth” (v.22 & 23). In other words, worship that is pleasing to God is not a matter of doing the right thing, but of having the right heart. And Jesus qualifies that by adding that it’s also a matter of truth. Because without the truth, our hearts would only succeed in driving us further away from God. 

So what is the truth? Jesus made it known to the woman with his final big reveal. The Messiah – the Savior – she was waiting for, was the very one to whom she was speaking! He alone could promise to satisfy not just dry lips and a parched throat, but a dehydrated soul, with his living water that wells up to eternal life. Jesus could provide what none of her past or current relationships ever could: a heart cleansed and purified by the living water of salvation. 

Friends, it isn’t easy. We are tired. We are worn out. We are thirsty. But don’t make matters worse by seeking to satisfy your thirst with worldly stuff that will only leave you in a worse condition. Drink up. Guzzle in all the grace you can. It will not run out. It will not fail to quench your thirst. It will not disappoint. It will leave you, too, with a clean conscience and a heart that is whole. Less of what will only leave you thirsty again and more of what will never leave you thirsty. More of Jesus and the living water only he can provide. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Palm Sunday Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. While Christ-centered worship is always edifying, some Sundays of the church year highlight the especially significant events of our Savior’s life and ministry. This morning is one such Sunday, on which we remember and celebrate the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Thank you for the Son’s humble service and selfless spirit, being willing to arrive in the very city that would sentence him to death. Today marks the first day of the holiest week of the year. Bless Palm Sunday worshippers everywhere who gather today to follow the Savior in faith to the upper room, to the cross, and ultimately to the empty tomb. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Faith

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(Genesis 12:1-8)

What do we really need? In my last post/sermon, the answer was “a gift.” Anything that is going to make right our relationship with God that has been naturally shattered by our sin has to come from him, since we can’t earn it or fix it. It must be given. It must be received. It must be a gift, and it must be by grace. And it is.

But we need more than that. Why? Because, while salvation from God is entirely a gift, entirely by grace, and entirely through Jesus Christ, not everyone will benefit from it. Something else is needed. And, while we have a name for that “something,” you’ll notice we don’t see the word for it at all in our verses from Genesis 12. The word is “faith,” and you can search through Genesis 12:1-8 with a fine-tooth comb, but you won’t find it anywhere. The word “faith” isn’t even in our verses at all. 

But, while the word faith isn’t in our verses from Genesis, faith itself is very visible. We see what faith looks like. We see faith put into practice. We observe faith. So let us see it and celebrate it in Abram, and let us rejoice in it by reflecting it in our lives also, all while thanking God yet again for providing exactly what I need: faith.

What does God’s gift of faith do? Faith listens, it acts, and it is blessed.

Look at this gift in the life of Abram. Genesis 12 starts out with the words, “The Lord had said to Abram” (v.1). Here is the first point – rather obvious, I admit – yet without it, faith cannot exist. It has to hear the Lord speak. Abram didn’t have the Bible we do today. He didn’t have Scriptures to read, study, and digest in order to listen to God. God simply spoke to him directly. We can’t miss this easily overlooked point about faith. It listens. It hears. God speaks, and faith’s ears perk up to hear what God is saying. 

God doesn’t promise to speak to us directly, as he did to Abram. Nor does he need to. In fact, we ought to be relieved that he’s given us something more reliable to listen to than his direct voice: he’s given us his Word. That may sound backwards to some today, as a person might naturally presume that God speaking directly to me is more desirable than “settling” for his Word.

But if we bend our ears to some voice outside of the Word, how do we know it’s God’s? Are we sure it’s his, and how are we sure? Because we like what we hear? Because it validates what I’ve already made up my mind to do? How do we know it’s God’s voice and not our own voice? Or echoes from a movie we saw, a conversation we had, a speaker we listened to, or even the voice of the one who does his best to masquerade as an angel of light, Satan?

If I shared all of the times people told me that God directly spoke to them or told them to do something directly, and then compared all of those results, do you know what we’d have? Lots of confusion and chaos! And, God apparently changing his mind quite a bit and giving some pretty bad advice to some and new and improved guidance to others that the rest of us are not privileged to have!

On top of all of that, I realize how things like social media and all of our methods of communication have played games with my own memory (“Did I actually communicate with a person in real life, was I there, or am just remembering an update they shared online?”). That’s made it difficult at times to nail down reality within my own memory. Am I sure then, that I want to risk the uncertainty of God speaking to me directly and me mixing up the details?

Faith listens to what God says, and what God says is clearly laid out for us in Scripture. Let’s keep our ears tuned to the Bible and not look to or hope for other revelations. He hasn’t promised them.

For many of us, that’s where we’re stuck in our Christian life, right here at this step. This is where the growth needs to happen, by simply listening to God in his Word. I don’t know if anyone has ever written anything as profound as what I’m about to write, but… read your Bible.

Often. Daily. Frequently. More than you are.

That’s what faith does. It listens to God’s voice. Start there. If you haven’t done that yet, or don’t know how to start or how to get back on track reading the Bible, there’s no shame in acknowledging that, but… you should be ashamed of continuing to be OK with that if you do nothing to change it. No excuses. Because faith is inseparable from the Word. 

When faith grows, it moves on to the next step (while always continuing with the first: listening!). Faith listens and then acts. Following the blessing promised by God, take note of the short sentence that follows.“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (v.4a). He listened to what the Lord told him and went! See how listening informed the action Abram took? He didn’t just act in some form or fashion that he thought best, but went “as the Lord had told him.” Faith listened and then acted – as directed by God. 

Abram’s faith didn’t just stop there, either. Look at how else it acted each time he arrived at a new rest stop. When he arrived at the great tree of Moreh at Shechem, “he built an altar there to the Lord” (v.7b). Then, he arrived at the next stop, “with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord” (v.8).

Have you ever stopped to consider the effort that kind of worship required? We pat ourselves on the back for showing up at church on Sunday, but imagine the effort required in the construction project of building an altar every time you wanted to worship! And, at 75, Abram was no spring chicken! Abram’s faith acted, both in obedience to what God had commanded him to do, but also in the natural outflow of worship, reflective of a heart inclined toward God.

How does our faith look in this department? Where does it have opportunity to get put into action? Where does it obey? Where does it worship (not just on Sunday morning, but daily)? Again, for many of us, faith in action looks like the first step we already talked about – getting to know your Bible. That is a faith that is listening and acting. So start there. 

Others of you, though, are or ought to be more mature in your faith. God didn’t call you to faith to stay at the level of faith at which he called you, but to grow and mature. Faith doesn’t mature when faith doesn’t act. So ask yourself this tough question: where am I disobeying or disregarding God’s call to action for my faith that is keeping me from maturing? Wrestle with that question.

Then, as you uncover the answer – or rather, answers, plural – repent of them. When you’ve done that, turn to the gracious God whose love and forgiveness for you will never run out, and ask him to lead you on that path of a mature faith that acts.

Do you know where the confidence to carry out that practice comes from? It comes from the third thing that faith “does.” It’s blessed. When faith listens and acts, blessings follow, and low and behold, guess what happens when blessings follow? They prompt us to listen and act even more! It’s like some beautiful divine cycle that God had in mind. Listen, act, blessing, listen, act, blessing, etc. Do you think it’d be a good cycle to get your life on board with? I do! So does God. 

Hear again how God blessed Abram’s faith. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (v.2-3). Do you remember all of the achievements Abram had accomplished at this point to deserve such a gracious promise from God? Did you look at the preceding verses and chapters to see the record of Abram’s righteousness?

Oh, that’s right – there isn’t anything!

That’s because God was the initiator of this blessing. It wasn’t set into motion by Abram’s own obedience or righteousness. Rather, God promised it and prompted Abram’s own obedience and righteousness. 

That’s how it is with us, too, isn’t it? God doesn’t just promise to bless us when faith listens and acts, but he blesses us so that faith listens and acts in response. Yes, we’re sandwiched in blessings! God blesses us on the front end and the back end because that’s who he is. 

In fact, did you even know that this promise God gave Abram was about you? How did God bless all people on earth through Abram? Jesus, that’s how. Jesus would come from the great nation God promised Abram, and as his one divine descendant, all people would be blessed through the Savior, Jesus Christ. That’s you. Blessed by the gracious gift of salvation we talked about last Sunday – the gift that is exactly what you need. Blessed also by the faith to believe and receive that gift. Blessed to be called into the same family of faith as Abram and all believers ever since. Blessed to be washed in forgiveness through your baptism and fed and filled up with forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper. Blessed to have the blessing of the Bible dwell richly in our homes and lives. 

You have exactly what you need; you have faith. It receives the eternal benefits of everything Jesus did for you. But don’t shortchange it, as if that’s all faith was intended to do, to serve as the conduit by which we receive eternal life. No, it’s capable of much more, which is why God gifted it to you. God showed that to Abram, who listened, acted, and was blessed.

Will you let God show you what faith is capable of receiving from him? 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Faithful Gospel Preaching

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Wherever your Word is proclaimed in worship today, let it be done so accurately and with clarity, and include a balance of law and gospel. Comfort afflicted souls while also afflicting souls too comfortable with sin. Where stories and illustrations are provided, work through them to offer not mere entertainment value, but to enlighten and reinforce your promises and truths. Allow the gracious news of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus to predominate in the messages. Through such faithful preaching, Lord, feed the sheep of your flock well.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

A Gift

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(Romans 5:12-19)

What do we really need? We aren’t actually so great at distinguishing what we truly need from what we want. When we speak of upgrading something that is operating just fine, or replacing an older item with something just because it’s newer, we’re really in the realm of wants more than needs. And, while we joke about previous generations hanging on to things well past their shelf life – “nothing a little duct tape or glue or thread can’t fix,” that generation may have perhaps had a better handle on the distinction between wants and needs.

That distinction is important because, if everything is a need, then it waters down what we really need. And more than any other, this season of the church year, which we refer to as Lent, reveals exactly what we all truly need.  

Good news! I think you’ll like what Paul says we need in Romans 5. He says we need a gift. Well, who could complain about that? Who doesn’t want a gift?

But… Paul isn’t just speaking of a gift that we want, which we may or may not get, but a gift that we need, and a gift without which we cannot succeed. Or live. Or love life to the fullest. FOMO is real with this gift, because without it, we are truly missing out. We can enjoy only the best that this world and its temporary, short-lived goods can offer. And frankly, that all leaves quite a bit to be desired. But with this gift, not only can we enjoy all of those things to the fullest for what they are, but we can rejoice and celebrate that we genuinely have something worth far more.

Before we jump right into exploring the size and shape of this gift, before we inspect the wrapping and shake it around to try to figure it out, notice how Paul explains why we need this gift. He paints a disturbing picture of the state of the world as a result of one catastrophic event: the Fall. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—“ (v.12). Not only does this explain how sin entered the world, but it also sheds light on why even the best of this world will still leave us unsatisfied – because since the Fall, everything in the world has had the fingerprints of sin and death all over it. 

Looking more at Paul’s writing in these verses, it may appear as if Paul was describing a time when people who sinned weren’t really doing anything wrong. But when Paul wrote that “sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law” (v.13) and “those who did not sin by breaking a command” (v.14), he wasn’t implying they weren’t guilty of anything (remember, he had already clarified that “all sinned” in verse 12!).

Rather, his point was that, even though God didn’t give the law until later at Mt. Sinai, the law wasn’t needed to prove that people sinned – death had already proven that! It was obvious that all had sinned because everyone ever born had died! The law was simply a sort of diagnostic test to help identify sin so that people could see it and know why death reigned.

The law was like a sign posted near Sunset Cliffs that warns a hiker walking close to the edge that they could fall and be injured or die. But, whether that sign is there or not, the same result would occur if someone walked off the cliff. Whether they see a sign or not, they would likely die. The sign just warns them of the danger. The law God gave just exposed sin and warned his people of the danger of it, but make no mistake: they were guilty of sin regardless of the law, and death was the proof.

Paul referenced the one selfish act that ushered that reality into the world. That act is recorded in Genesis 3. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. [The Lord God] said, ‘Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The womanyou put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:6, 11-13). Adam & Eve bought the lie that they were missing out, that God was withholding something from them, that he was keeping hidden that there was more for them to experience. So they disregarded God’s one command – just the one, the only one, remember – and sought to serve themselves. 

The result of that selfish act of rebellion has been that the children have acted like the parents ever since. In other words, we naturally see the same selfishness in ourselves.

Doesn’t that explain why we have such a hard time distinguishing wants from needs? When I am so naturally self-absorbed, I filter everything that happens in life through the lens of how it affects me. Even when I do manage to put others first, eventually I want to be recognized for it!

“I put up with a lot today at work, so I deserve that impulse buy.” “I am constantly putting the kids first, so I owe myself a bottle of wine or a few drinks.” If no one else is going to acknowledge or reward our selflessness, we’ll make sure to take care of rewarding ourselves. How selfish is that?!? No wonder I confuse wants and needs – I am constantly fighting against that innate part of me that imagines the world revolving around me!

But, try as we might, it’s not just a switch we can turn off. It’s not fixed by all the effort we can muster in the world, because we can’t get rid of the selfish traits passed down to us from our first parents. Selfishness cannot be addressed with an antibiotic like some bacteria. It isn’t some virus that can be avoided with a vaccine. It is who we are, and we are helpless to fix it, no matter how hard we try. No, going to church doesn’t make us better people – there are a lot of jerks that go to church! Going to a Christian school doesn’t provide students with a moral compass that magically enables them to make all the right selfless decisions for the rest of their lives. We can’t fix our selfishness. It condemns us.

So why do we go to church or a Christian school then? Because it is where we receive the gift, a gift received only by grace – a Bible word that means “undeserved love.”

Not earned. Not deserved. Not merited. And with that assurance, it’s a gift that is extended to all people. Everyone. If not earned or deserved, then we’re all on equal footing. Our upbringing doesn’t come into play. Our intelligence doesn’t factor in. Our paycheck holds no value. We’re all in the same boat, helpless to earn or deserve it, which makes us perfectly ready to receive what can only be received as a gift.

Let that sink in. Read and reread verses 15-19 again and again, but do so taking note of some common themes. First, note the connection between the words “gift,” “grace,” and “Jesus Christ.” They are inseparable. They go together. They belong together. There is no gift without grace, and there is no grace apart from Jesus Christ. 

Second, note that there is not a single mention of anything for you to do. Only to receive. Not do. Oh, there was plenty of focus in the early verses on how what we do results in death, but no mention at all in these verses of your doing, your obligation, your requirement, your expectation, your have-to’s, musts, or shoulds. Once Paul shifts his focus to the themes of gift/grace/Jesus Christ, those phrases completely disappear.

Do you see it? This is exactly what you and I need! Not a checklist or a personal improvement plan or a scolding to do better. We need a gift. It’s our only hope!

And Paul says that gift is ours through the grace of Jesus. Grace that we see in Jesus’ perfect life, devoid of even an ounce of selfishness. Grace that Jesus displayed, not only by being able to obey, but even in delighting in perfect obedience. Grace that drove Jesus to the ultimate act of obedience in humbling himself to death – even death on a cross – so that we might have the gift of life!

Only this gift overrules the condemnation passed down to us through Adam, which we daily demonstrate we deserve. It overrules it with the declaration of justification, a Bible word that means God says we’re not guilty. We’re not condemned. By faith, that is the gift of grace we receive through the life and death of Jesus Christ. 

And even though Paul spends a few verses comparing what we received from Adam with what we receive through Christ, his whole point is that really, there’s no comparison at all! The one is completely unlike the other, superior in every single way. Consider the ways this gift differs from what we originally received from Adam: they differ as to their source, their verdict, and their results.

As to their source? One came by an act of disobedience; the other came entirely by grace. “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (v.15). Adam’s efforts gave us disobedience, whereas Christ’s lavish us with grace.

As to their verdict? One brought condemnation, while the other brought justification. Adam’s sin says “GUILTY!” to every one of us. Jesus’ gift, however, declares “NOT GUILTY!” to all!“Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification” (v.16). To remain in Adam, outside of faith, is to retain that verdict of condemnation, but to belong to Christ by faith is to be assured of a guilt-free record that declares us not condemned. 

And because of that, there is no comparison between their results. One ensured that death would reign, while the other graciously overthrew that reign and replaced it with life. “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (v.17). Though we will all die, Jesus has the last word and reminds us that death doesn’t rule. Life does. Life to the full for as long as he grants us on earth, but eternal life forever beyond that. Only in Jesus has that sting of death been removed, because it is helpless ever again to overthrow Christ’s guarantee of life. 

What do we really need? Nothing. Not a thing. By faith, you already have all that you need in the gift of God’s grace to you in Jesus Christ. Put all your wants to rest and find instead the satisfaction and serenity of living daily in the peace of knowing you have exactly what you need. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Rekindle Our Love of Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Nevertheless, it’s easy for us to approach worship with ho-hum hearts. We see the same people, sing the same songs, pray the same prayers, and hear the same Scriptures. We see it all as so monotonous and mundane.

Forgive us! How shallow we are for ever giving your Word such shabby treatment. Have mercy on us! How wrong we are to shortchange your sacraments by viewing them as nothing more than a lengthy add-on to the service. 

Rekindle in us the love of worship. Draw us to delight in being in your presence. Let our ears and our hearts perk up when your Word is read, and move our mouths to joyfully sing songs of praise. May we glorify you in a worthy manner with our worship, even as you edify and feed us through it. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.