It's More Than Money

“Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”
Matthew 10:9-10

Have you ever noticed that as Jesus prepared those He had chosen to carry His message to the world, that he was constantly warning them of the high personal cost - not the dollars cost, necessarily, but the emotional and physical cost of following him? Jesus had a trade – he was trained as a carpenter and while the Scriptures don’t share, there must have been times when He plied the trade.  

In this week’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is preparing to send out the twelve men He had handpicked to teach, on their first mission trip. A domestic trip was planned to let these twelve men practice what they had learned so far. Jesus had given them the spiritual power they would need to carry out the tasks they would encounter and then He began the rest of the trip instructions by telling them not to take anything with them. He tells them to forget stopping by the bank to pick up some cash, don’t pack a bag, don’t take anything extra with you. When you get to where you are going, find someone to stay with and make yourselves useful for your room and board. The Message puts this’s week’s passage like this: “Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.” A little further on in verses 17-19 He tells them to expect to be arrested and beaten, verse 22 that they will be hated and verse 23 that they will be persecuted. Of course Jesus encourages them to stand firm and rely fully on the power He has given them to complete the call He has placed on them.

Back in chapter eight Matthew talks of the cost of following Jesus. A teacher if the law comes and tells Jesus: “…I will follow you wherever you go” (Matt. 8:19). “Jesus replied,’ Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). Then of course there is the rich, young man of Matthew 19 who is unwilling to pay the cost when Jesus tells him that to “… be perfect he should go sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, then come follow me” (Matt.19:21).

There was a time when, if Jesus, a homeless carpenter and my Savior demanded that of me I would have gone there. The willingness was rewarded with a small, simple home in a place where I can do what I was called to do. How many of us would leave the comfort of our homes and the car or cars we own - to go where Jesus tells us to go? How many of us would travel to the other side of the state or country or world taking nothing with us but the clothes we are wearing? How many of us are prepared to be arrested and beaten or worse? How many of us would chose to be hated by those around us?    

As we continue our journey to the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter, let us consider the mission Christ has called us to – it’s about way more than money. It’s about picking up that heavy and painful cross, it’s about sacrificing our comfort to build a real relationship with someone, so that they can meet Jesus. It’s about the best relationships being built on love, trust and hard work.   

A Prayer
Father – Thank you for the difficult lessons of life. Thank you for making it clear that following you and being obedient to Your call will not be easy, it will demand much of us – physically, emotionally, intellectually and yes even at times financially. You make it clear so we can choose if we are willing to go where you tell us to go and do what you ask us to do. I have no doubt Lord, that when the rich young man turned and walked away, that Your heart broke. He was told the cost and he wasn’t prepared to pay it. Grant us the strength, to go the distance with You. Help us daily to use our lives to reflect You to the world around us. In the name of Jesus, who makes it clear that it about more than money – Amen.

My Cross... Your Cross

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me. He must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.’”
Luke 9:23-24

Generations before Jesus walked on this planet, talking about the kingdom of heaven, a man called by God picked up a “cross” and carried it – he had no idea the example he was setting. We first meet this man in Genesis 12 when God call Abram to go to a place God would show him and he went. He left behind all that was known to him, what was comfortable, what felt safe and secure when responded to God by going. Sometime later, God would change his name to Abraham and promised a son to him in his old age. God was faithful to keep the promise a beloved son Isaac was born. Then another “cross” was presented for Abraham to carry. A more difficult one than the first. A call to take his promised and much loved son and make him a burnt offering to the very God who had given the son. Abraham willingness to carry out God’s instruction resulted not only in Isaac’s life being spared, but a blessing upon the descendants of Abraham that reaches into present day. 

This week’s passage from Luke’s Gospel comes as Jesus is trying to make it clear to his disciples what is coming, what He himself will face and what they too should expect. This particular narrative is also found in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and share something Luke’s version doesn’t. Jesus is telling His disciples and those in ear shot what is going to happen to him in just a little while and before he can continue Peter who suffers from acute foot in mouth disease – tries to rebuke Jesus for saying such things. Jesus gives a harsh rebuke in return telling Peter to “Get behind me Satan… you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:32-33). This rebuke of Peter by Jesus is important in understanding Jesus’ call for us to pick up our cross daily and follow after Him. You see Peter was being selfish in his rebuke of Jesus, he didn’t want to hear of suffering and death – he wanted his friend, his Christ to be with him.    

The Amplified Bible brings some additional clarity to this week’s passage about taking up the cross. Stating that in denying self, we are to set aside our selfish interests and that in taking up the cross we are expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come, so that by following Him we will make clear that we believe in Him, that we are ready to follow His example in living and if need be in His example of suffering and dying because of our faith in Him.   

A Roman cross was a brutal form of execution that no one would willingly take up, no one except Jesus that is. In the midst of the brutality of the cross of Christ, there are somethings that are not so brutal and yet in our world are likely perceived with almost equal fear because they are so against the current of how the world works. The cross of Christ, is a brutal instrument of suffering and death yes, but it is also a cross of grace, it is a cross of mercy, it is a cross of forgiveness, it is a cross of restoration, it is a cross of selfless love and powerful compassion, it is a cross that leads to life.

We are in the season of Lent, a time of looking deeply at our lives in light of Christ’s cross. What is keeping you from picking yours up and following after Him? It won’t be easy – He never said it would be. But what you will face as you carry it will seem like nothing in the light of eternity and the blessings He has in store for all who like Abraham will walk by faith.

A Prayer
Father – It seems so difficult to pick up the cross you have for each of us. We humans want life to be easy and safe and yet you call us into a place where we might suffer, where it is not safe, where we are meant to put You and others first. In our self-centered and selfish world that is hard and frightening sometimes. Yet Your Son willing laid down His life for us on a brutal Roman cross to show us that we too if our hearts are open to walk in faith with Him, can carry whatever cross you have for us. As we do Lord help us to show others the grace, mercy, forgiveness, restoration, selfless love, compassion and life that is present there also. In the name of Jesus, who teaches us how to take up our cross – Amen.

It's About Timing...HIS

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
Romans 5:6

A death in my family had created a need for me to go “home”. I had planned to drive, as that seemed the most economical way to get there, but I ended up flying. You see the potential for bad weather in California may have hampered my ability to drive there in a timely matter. As I sat on a fully booked flight, racing about the clouds, I began to wonder what the world might look like if transportation had evolved faster. Would it be better or worse off than it is now? 

In Biblical times you could get somewhere by walking, riding a donkey or a horse or in a chariot – if you were wealthy or a soldier, or you could travel by boat. This week’s passage from the book of Romans stood out not because it talks of transportation – because it clearly doesn’t. Rather it is the phrase “at just the right time” that grabbed my attention. Even though we are now millennia away from the resurrection things concerning our relationship with Jesus and our salvation still happen at just the right time.    

What if Jesus could have driven a SUV or pick-up truck instead of walking everywhere? Would more people or less people have been able to spend time with Him? What if Paul could have flown to Rome instead of having to sail there on a ship? Would Malta have been missed by the Gospel? What about the soldiers and sailors on the ship – would someone else who carried the Good news have ended up on that ship?   

But transportation didn’t evolve faster – so Jesus walked and everywhere He went he arrived just in time to heal those who needed healing and to build the relationships that needed to be built. Likewise, Paul used the means of transportation available to him to reach the people he was meant to reach. Every mode of transportation serves a purpose in God’s timing so that at just the right time the Gospel is spread and life transformation happens at the speed of God.

At what speed and who’s timing are you operating under? Are you flying when perhaps you should be walking? Are you sitting still when maybe you should be on your way to the airport? Travel too fast and you may miss an important opportunity that could change someone’s life or your own. Don’t travel at all and the result is the same.

Listen for His travel instructions, move in His timing, then be awestruck by what you’ll see – His life transforming power at work in your life and the lives of those you meet along the way and travel with for a bit – at just the right time.

A Prayer
Father – thank you for Your perfect timing. Cars and planes arrived at the right moments in history. Help us to be attentive to Your call to travel, to use the best mode of transportation, to bring Your transforming love with us, wherever you lead us. In the name of Jesus, our travel advisor – Amen.

Never Far

“The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

A portion of the chorus from Carole King’s song So Far Away had been bouncing around in my head “But you’re so far away. Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore? It would be so nice to see your face at my door…” Two friends dealing with major health issues and a death in the family had me feeling too far away. So I’d been praying and listening when I got a gentle reminder from the Lord that He is never far away. 

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have church with King David, because his songs of praise are so honest. This week’s passage is from one such Psalm. David’s life was anything but easy and something tells me he often felt far away from the people he loved, from the simpler, if not easier times as a shepherd. But he was always confident that his God was there, never far away from him. That’s the great reminder from this week’s passage “The Lord is close to the broken hearted… and the sick, and the fearful, and the discouraged and the – you fill in the blank with what might be making you feel far away.   

As Joshua prepared to lead the people into the promise land in obedience to what his God had commanded him to do, God reminded him in no uncertain terms that He would never leave him or forsake him (Joshua 1:5). It’s hard to think that Jesus ever felt far away, but I think there may have been times when He did. Perhaps he felt far away when he learned of John’s death. Maybe He felt far away as he prayed in the garden pleading for the cup to be taken away, while yielding His will to the Father’s. Very possibly as He cried “My God, my God why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)” as he hung on the cross. After the resurrection Matthew shares a commissioning different and at the same time similar to the one God had given Joshua and He ends with a similar promise that “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).  

You see, whether thousands of miles separate you from the people you love, or the storms of life have you feeling distant from the God who loves you best – He is never far from where you are and His love can bridge the gap and allow our hearts to touch no matter where we are.

A Prayer
Father – thank you so much for the gentle reminders of your nearness to us. No matter what we face or how far we are from the people who mean the most to us, we can trust fully that You are near. We can trust that You see us, hear us, understand our pain and love us. Be with us in a fresh way, hold us tight when we are in the midst of a storm. Stoke the fire of Your Spirit in us so that we can shine your light to the world around us. In the name of Jesus, who never far – Amen.

What Did Your Father Tell You?

“The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction. Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly bring punishment to fools. A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
Proverbs 16:21-24

I have to admit I’ve been struggling a bit with what I see going on in the world and on social media at the moment. If I let my humanness take over this would be a rant and anything but encouraging, so I’ve decided to heed the words of a wise bunny named Thumper who listened well to his father’s words and said, “If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all”. So I’m gonna honor my Father and do my best to say something nice and hopefully encourage you to say something nice as well. 

This week’s passage from the book of Proverbs, written primarily by King Solomon, is really about the power of words when combined with wisdom. Meaning there is a right way and a wrong way express ourselves. It seems to me that more now than ever social media is being used to spread falsehoods and create division. We all have a right to speak our minds but how about we engage our brains and use some wisdom when we speak. On social media instead of just liking and sharing or re-tweeting something just because it may somehow prove we’re right, why don’t we fact check and speak our own minds with well thought out words? Finding the truth these days can be hard, but not impossible so take the time to seek truth. Our corrupted human nature believes we should be right at all costs even if the means tearing others down to make ourselves look better. But, as followers of Christ, that’s not how we are supposed to act or speak. Speaking real truth with wise words helps bring understanding – as Solomon says it promotes instruction and brings healing.  

In Matthew 12 Jesus uses much stronger language than Solomon about what comes out of our mouths. Read it for yourselves – verses 23-37. He starts out by saying that nations and households that are divided cannot stand and then goes on to say that what comes out of our mouths reveals who we are at our cores – either good or evil and that someday we will be held accountable for the words we have spoken.  

I rant a lot in my head and as I do I usually determine that if I actually said those words out loud that they would not be helpful, they would not build someone up and they would not work to bring unity to whatever the situation is. I want to encourage you to seek wisdom and speak words of unity and healing.

Be like Thumper – listen well to the Father and if you can’t or don’t want to say something nice, then don’t say anything.

A Prayer
Father – I love how you can use an old Disney movie to teach important lessons. Lord fill our personal lives with Your wisdom and bring some into the life of our communities and nations. Help us to seek wisdom and to speak words that build others up and bring us into unity even when we don’t agree. May we be mindful of what Your Son says about what our words reveal about our hearts. In the name of Jesus, who wants us to remember what the Father said – Amen.

New Year Perspective

“… yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”
Habakkuk 3:18-19

2017 started with my work computer deciding it had had enough and quit. As I sat at my desk grumbling about not being able to get the computer I wanted, not being able to plug in my second monitor and what a pain it is to set up a new computer, the Holy Spirit nudged my heart and changed my thoughts. My mind settled on some dear friends who had begun the new year with devastating health news and how in the midst of the terrible storm they were facing, they were still finding things to rejoice in and to praise the Lord for. 

For this week’s passage I return to one of my favorite Old Testament books and one of my favorite passages. In the verses leading up to this week’s passage the prophet Habakkuk rattles off a list of less than pleasant things – crop failures and the loss of livestock, we would recognize this as drought and famine. Even with a terrible life storm heading his way he too rejoices in the Lord and finds joy in the fact the God is God, and HE is enough.

I really have no way of knowing what the year holds for myself or any of you who may be reading this. I can say – there will be good stuff and probably not so good stuff in store for all of us. We can take comfort, like Habakkuk did in the fact that God is God, He is in control - when we feel like everything is out of control. We can rest assured that we are not alone, He is with us and He will bring people into our live to journey with us to the mountain tops and into the deepest, darkest valleys. 

Sometimes all that it takes is a fresh perspective to help us keep the small things small and to realize that in God’s hands even the really big and difficult stuff can be small too. So let’s rejoice and be joy filled, worshipping God because He is God and he can give us a New Year of new perspectives.

A Prayer
Father – as we gaze into this new year and wonder what it holds for us, give us fresh perspective. Remind us often of your presence with us in all the storms and celebrations of this life. Help us to see that in your hands everything we face is small, but Your love for us is huge. As we allow Your perspective to fill us with joy and Your light – help us to allow that to overflow into the lives of those around us who need to know you and the power of your love. In the name of Jesus, who gives us fresh perspective – Amen.

Transformational Newness

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17

I believe in magic… well not magic like in Bewitched or Harry Potter, not even magic like David Copperfield. The magic I believe in - could, should be equated with the miracles of God’s movement on our lives and world - it is the power of Jesus to bring transformational newness to everyone and everything.

Leading up to this week’s passage Paul has been encouraging the Corinthian church and us by giving us a glimpse of eternity and reminds that because of all that Christ has done anyone and everyone that is in Him by faith have been made new. We experience transformational newness when we surrender our sin weary lives to the risen Savior. But transformational newness is more than just a change of heart for humans. Everywhere Jesus stepped while He was here was made new in some way. Everywhere His Spirit is allowed to work today is also made new in some way

Jesus didn’t just change lives, He transformed what religion had become, He created a radical change in the way people related to God. He encouraged transformational newness in the way people came together to worship God. He called the people out of the rituals and traditions that had grown out of the Law. He called them into community and relationship – with Him and with each other. Transformational newness isn’t a onetime thing; it is an ongoing process for us personally and for what is now known as the church.

I can imagine what those first gatherings must have looked like for the new followers of Jesus. Oh they probably sang the psalms they were familiar with, but I bet some new music was part of it. They gathered in homes, if they were lucky maybe one of the Apostles would be there and teach them personally or perhaps they listened to the latest letter from Paul. They shared a meal and talked about what God was doing in their lives and community. They no doubt shared their fears, tears and their celebrations. They cared for one another, it wasn’t “the leader’s” responsibility – it was everyone’s responsibility to care for each other and to care for those on the fringes of society too.

The Church has been renewing itself ever since, you see if we as individuals and as a community of believers to allow transformational newness happen on an ongoing basis, we get stuck in the muck and mire of ritual and tradition – it stops being about loving God and loving others.

The turning of the calendar page to a new year is a magical time; there is an expectation of change on the hearts and minds of people around the world. Let this be the moment we allow the power of Jesus to jump start transformational newness in our lives and in our churches.

I am a new creation, but I am not a finished creation – I need to keep experiencing His transformational newness and so do you. Let’s make the new year really new.

A Prayer
Father – thank you for the magic that is the power of Your movement in our lives and world. Thank you for making us new through Your Son Jesus. Show us the power of continually experiencing the power of transformational newness in our lives and in Your Church. As we are continually renewed may Your power shine through us into the lives of those who need You to make them new too. In the name of Jesus, who makes us new – Amen.