Don't Get Too Comfortable

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:39-40

I’d been having a discussion in my heart and mind with God over what helps grow our trust and faith in him. There are of course a number of things – worship, obedience, being in relationship with others who are living life following Jesus and living actively in the world but in a way that is so different that others notice. But I kept coming back to one thing more than all the others, that idea that God grows us by making us uncomfortable.

The passage above comes at the end of a list of Old Testament people who are commended for their faith. Even though things happened in their lives as they followed after God that prevented them from fully experiencing what God had promised them – they had remained faithful. As I looked at this list and thought not only of the people listed but also other Old Testament people and New Testament people whose faith can be commended, I found a common thread of faith building – many, if not all of them had been called out of their places of comfort to be part of God’s bigger and better plan for mankind.

Noah was asked to build a giant ship, a ship that would allow mankind to live on after the flood. Abraham was told to leave his family behind and follow God to a land God would show him and then be asked to sacrifice his beloved son, so that the nation God was going to build would have a place to live and to be an example for what faithful obedience looks like. Joseph must have been comfortable as the bratty younger brother who was “dad’s favorite” until his brothers sold him into slavery, that would eventually allow Joseph to keep them alive in the midst of famine. I am guessing Moses had gotten comfortable with being a shepherd when God spoke to him from a blazing bush and told to go and lead His people – a people that were comfortable in their bondage - out of Egypt. What about Ruth, having left the comfort of her land and family to stay with Naomi and be found in the line of David. How about Esther, was she comfortable in her life, before she was queen and risked her life to save her people? Many of the disciples left the comfort of their trades and families to follow after Jesus and become world changers. Even Jesus – can you imagine what comfort the Father called him out of, so He could come and die for us?

Leaving California and the comfort of family and friends to go to a new place was hard, but the faith building was amazing. Standing on the platform to preach and teach the Word of God – way out of my comfort zone, also great for faith building though. I was asked after having done that several times, if I was getting more comfortable with it. After thinking about the answer to that question, I responded that I wasn’t sure it was a good thing to get comfortable with it, because it is too important a thing to take for granted – which is something we human are inclined to do when we get comfortable in life – take things for granted that is.

A day may come when others will commend us for our faith, recognizing that even we hadn’t fully received the promise yet. That will come some day when all of us who call Jesus Lord, will be in his presence.

Until then - don’t get too comfortable, He wants to build a Christ like character in you and He will make you uncomfortable to do it.

A Prayer
Father – You know how we humans are so inclined to live comfortably, so comfortably that we take each other, our stuff, our faith and You for granted. Saying thank you for the times that you pull us out of our comfort zone, to build our faith and grow our character is hard, but may we thank you with everything in us as your grow us into the people you planned for us to be from the beginning. As we live out our faith outside our comfort zones may those around us recognize You in our lives and allow their hearts to answer Your call to them. In the name of Jesus, who calls us out of our comfort zones – Amen.

Can I Get a Witness?

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”
Psalm 57:7-11

In my experience I have found that when things are going well – it is easy to praise the Lord. Can I get a witness? When things start going wrong, when the storm clouds of life begin to gather, when life seems to have lost the plot leading to the happily ever after – praising the Lord gets difficult. More difficult that getting angry, than questioning His faithfulness, than turning away. Can I get a witness?

In the course of less than 24 hours I learned that someone I care about had gotten a cancer diagnosis and that another person I care about was waiting to see if that diagnosis was headed their way and then that a new friend’s mother had just gotten the big C battle added to her life. Add to that a faraway friend who had just finished gaining a second victory over that insidious disease and someone I work with is waging all-out war on it. I was doing some questioning of God myself. Can I get a witness?

Then my heart drew my mind to David – Shepherd King and how in the midst of the many battles he found himself in he would find a way to praise God. Oh he would cry out in fear, he would ask God to destroy his enemies in no uncertain terms, he would lie on his face consumed by the guilt of his own failings, his own sin and then he would praise God. That’s what is going on in Psalm 57. David cries out for protections and deliverance and then praises God so that the whole world would know how great his God is. Wonder if David asked – can I get a witness?

Paul is another one who was good at praising God even as he questioned why he couldn’t go where he wanted to go, why God wouldn’t take the thorn from him? It was to remind Paul and us that God’s divine strength give us the greatest power when we are at our weakest, lowest points. It is to remind us that God grace, mercy and love are sufficient for whatever we are facing. I wonder if Paul ever asked – Can I get a witness?

Where are you today? Praising God because the sky is blue and there is nothing but smooth sailing in your life. Can I get a witness? I’ll celebrate that with you. Maybe life isn’t so great right now, and being angry at God is way easier than praising Him is. Can I get a witness? I’ll be praying for you in that. Maybe the storm has passed and you have found Him to be faithful, that His strength was enough and even though you were angry and questioning you have found your heart steadfast and ready to raise the roof singing praise to God. Can I get a witness? I’ll sing with you.

Can I get a witness?

A Prayer
Father – you are so patient with us. You put up with our lack of faith because you love us so much. You let us throw our little tantrums and then you show us that when we are at our weakest Your divine power will make us stronger than we realize. Help us to live our lives in such a way that even in the midst of the worst of life’s storms our hearts will be steadfast and so much so that we are indeed a witness to your power, love, mercy and grace. May our witness show those around us that what you have done for us you will do for them too. In the name of Jesus – Amen.

Restored

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:10-12

As someone who has walked after Jesus for a long time, making something so familiar as Easter, even though it is an awe inspiring, life changing event – fresh can and filled with a new sense of wonder and gratitude can be hard sometimes. As I listened to a powerful resurrection message from our pastor and jotted down some possible titles for some post Easter encouragement. I thought I had landed on one, but the words just wouldn’t come, even as I studied and reflected on the cross and the risen Jesus. Then as is often the case inspiration came from an unexpected source.

I don’t know how many of you watch Grey’s Anatomy, but Dan and I do regularly and the inspiration for this word of encouragement comes from an episode that aired on March 29, just days before Easter.

There is a character on the show whose name is April Kepner. April is a doctor and since she first arrived on the scene (years ago), it was no secret that she was a woman of faith, a Christian. Now like all of us who follow after Christ, she was not perfect but she was doing her best to live out what she believed. A number of episodes before this one just before Easter – April had a really bad day at work – so bad that by the end of it she is having a full blown crisis of faith. April goes completely off the rails – drinking, sleeping with any man that was interested, being mean to people she cares about, treating the interns harshly – the only thing she hadn’t done was curse God. Oh she was plenty mad, shaking her fists and wanting to know what good is it to believe something and live something. In one episode following the start of the crisis one of the men she’s been with shares his own struggles with God following the death of his son, but also shares that he still managed to find comfort in church. Some of the pain, a little of the pain April is feeling starts to break away. Then in the episode the aired before Easter – April is at the bedside of a man dying an incredibly painful death, the result of a rare reaction to antibiotics. The man is a Rabbi. At first April is angry at the doctor who originally treated the man and she is trying to focus on keeping him comfortable.

But then there is a fierce conversation between the Rabbi and April - about God, about how this dying man can see that April is trying to hide her own pain and in doing so is acting like a child. He questions why she thinks that she was ever meant to understand everything or to think that there wouldn’t be unfair suffering in the world. This Rabbi whose skin is basically just falling apart asks April to tell the other doctor that he forgives her. At the end of the show it turns out that, that fierce conversation with a dying rabbi restores April’s faith. Oh, April’s heart will still have some healing to do and she’ll have to mend the wounds that she inflicted on others but you could see that the weight had been lifted and she could once again see Jesus as her Savior.

In the passage above, King David had been confronted with his sin and cries out for his God to restore him, so that he would once again feel the joy of his salvation. That's really what Jesus’ journey to the cross was for, so that by His death, He could take away the sins of all had and would believe in him and in so doing restore us to a right relationship with the God who made us and loves us more than we can ever truly understand. And on that day when the tomb was empty, because Jesus had defeated death - what joy the disciples had. A joy that continues to ripple out from that moment and fills all of us who call Jesus – Savior and Lord.

Maybe you are not having a faith crisis – but your faith is feeling a little dry, spend some time with Jesus ask him to restore the joy of your salvation and breathe new life into your faith.

Maybe you are in full crisis mode wondering if it's even worth trying to live the way Jesus wants you to – with all the pain, suffering and unanswered questions. Cry out to Him and then seek out someone of faith you trust and respect and have a fierce conversation, maybe have more than one.

Maybe you don’t know Jesus or don’t believe He is who said he is, or that He died for you and your sins. Seek Him and you will find Him. Chances are He is very near to you already, just waiting for you to want to know Him.

No matter where you are in life or what you are facing, remember that Jesus is a Rabbi who died to take away your sins and then rose victorious from the grave - to give you a new and more abundant life in this moment and into eternity.

I am glad to be restored. What about you?

A Prayer
Father – thank you for your Son, thank you that He surrendered himself to the cross to take away our sins, bring us healing and restore our relationship with You. Thank you for raising Him to life again, that we too might live, not just in the here and now but forever. Help those of us who call Jesus Lord, to live our lives in such a way as to attract others to the cross and the empty and into the very presence of the savior. Give us eyes to see hurting hearts around us. In the name of Jesus, who restores all who believe – Amen.

The Cross: More Than Dead Wood

“For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Luke 23:31

This Good Friday devotion has been excerpted from a sermon I gave on March 18, 2018.

The truth of it is that sometimes what Jesus said is hard to swallow. Hard enough that people turn away from Him.

I need to confess that preparing message was hard, because what Jesus says in the above verse is hard. Then just a week or so before I was to take the platform to deliver a Lenten message, something happened that left me feeling a bit battered. That battered feeling helped me get past Jesus’ difficult words and recognize the importance of following His agenda.

In Luke 23:26-30 We see Simon of Cyrene pressed into service to carry the cross that had become too heavy for the severely beaten Jesus to carry all the way to Golgotha. Relieved of that mortal burden, Jesus then turns his attention to the women who were mourning and wailing for Him as they followed with the rest of the crowd. He tells them “don’t cry for me, you still don’t understand what’s happening, I know fully what is going to happen and what is coming – so cry for yourselves instead, cry for your children – there is a day coming when the people will cry for the mountains to fall on them.” Remember that their beloved Jerusalem with its beautiful temple would be destroyed and many would lose their lives to the sword or be once again exiles as they fled the destruction. Then He say something really dark and hard – we are gonna soak in those words for a bit to see how The Cross is more than dead wood.

As I read the about verse over and over I thought – wow, that is really tough – I knew what I thought is meant after I had sat with it for a bit and let it roll around in my head. A Bible translation called The Voice speaks this verse more plainly by saying “For if they treat Me like this when I’m like green unseasoned wood, what will they do to a nation that’s ready to burn like seasoned firewood?”

Let’s talk about green and dry trees.

Green trees, they can be young, but regardless of their age if sap is flowing through them and no pests or diseases are harming them - they are vibrant, they bear fruit. Green wood is hard to cut and hard to burn. Jesus is the green tree – He is relatively young, being a 30 something at the time, He was certainly vibrant and His life had been very fruitful. He was also innocent, pure and holy. He had done nothing to deserve the punishment He was about to endure – nothing except to love the people who in his context were responsible –

The Jewish leaders – whose fear of change and pride blinded them to the truth they should have known. The Jewish people who turn against Him as their leaders incited the mob - despite the fact that he had fed them, healed them, welcomed them into fellowship with Him. The women whom He tells not to cry for him but instead for themselves and their children – that they should be weeping for their sin worn souls - that we should weep for our own sin worn souls. That they should weep for the judgement that was coming - that we should weep for the judgement that is coming.

Peter had denied Him when the going got tough, even though he had recognized that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

Even Pilate – who recognized that Jesus was an innocent man – going so far as to wash his hands of the matter so that they would not be stained by the blood of an innocent man, had not the courage or the strength to put down the mob in his courtyard and so surrendered Jesus to be brutally beaten and nailed to some dead wood.

If this was how the Romans would treat the innocent – how would they treat the guilty?

If God would cause His own innocent Son to suffer on our behalf. What will HE do to us if we fail to live lives that reflect the love of Jesus Christ?

Now let’s look at dry trees – they are fruitless, dead, no life giving sap runs through them, the wood from them burns easily. The dry tree is guilty, corrupt, wicked and ready for judgement good for nothing but the fire.

If Jesus is the green tree – then in His context it was the Jewish nation and to some extent the Romans who were the dry trees – Jerusalem would be destroyed and eventually the Roman empire would fall. Today – If we like the disciples of old turn our backs on Jesus because of His hard teaching or if we fail to take on Jesus’ agenda; allowing our pride, our fear or whatever to keep us from becoming the people, the nation, the kingdom he has purposed us to be - we too risk becoming dry trees as our sin worn souls suck the life out of us. Because we are all sinners – yes, some of us, many who are reading this have been saved by grace - but we all fall short sometimes, because our humanness gets in the way.

Has it gotten dark enough for you?

Let’s try to bring the light back in.

In Mark chapter 10 we encounter the rich young man, who walks away sad because Jesus’ words were too hard. The disciples where so amazed at the severity of Jesus saying it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God that they asked “Who can be saved?” Jesus was honest in his response “With man – with us this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” – There is hope.

Both Mark and Luke call our attention to the poor widow who put all she had into the treasury and how Jesus commended her. He commended her not for her money but for her total surrender to God. It is in our total surrender that we find our real reward.

In John Jesus talks of being the vine and of believers being the branches – we when abide in Him we find a fruitful life.

Following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension Peter and the others faced persecution, they were arrested and commanded to stop talking about Jesus – They responded they had no choice but to obey God. You (Peter said) speaking to the religious leaders - hung him on piece of dead wood to die, but he had been raised to life and exalted to His rightful place by the God of our fathers – HIS FATHER. Because this is true - when we repent we are forgiven.

What good news for us – Amen!

So here’s the bottom line – here is the amazing grace filled light that shines for this dark world,

Jesus’ Sacrifice – on that cross made of dead wood - Plus - Our belief, because we are saved by grace through faith in the Son that was given – Equals – Eternal Life! That makes the Cross way more than dead wood!

A Prayer
Father – thank you for your words – even when they are difficult to hear. Send your Holy Spirit to be with us as we soak in the Words of Your Son Jesus – grant us eyes that see, ears that hear and hearts ready to be filled with all you have for us. In the name of Jesus, who make the cross more than dead wood – Amen.

Humble and Kind

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9

I was thinking about Palm Sunday when Tim McGraw’s song Humble and Kind came to mind.
Which in turn brought to mind Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem. The rock star welcome that He received betrayed what would soon happen. Yet Jesus wept over the city, over the people who cried “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” on that day but who would shout “Crucify Him” just days later.

Zechariah spoke the words of this passage long before Jesus arrived on the scene and yet on the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday it was fulfilled by Jesus – just one more proof that Jesus was indeed the Messiah the people had been waiting for, that the world desperately needed. Jesus – Creator of the universe, Lord of Lord, Everlasting King rode into Jerusalem not on a war horse or a great white steed as a conquering leader but on a donkey, a lowly, trusty, hardworking beast of burden.

As we look at the life Jesus lived, we see him humble and compassionate. He didn’t hang out with the people of influence, in fact in the moments where he seems uncompassionate He is dealing with the leaders of His day. Leaders who perhaps had forgotten what they had been called to. Leaders who were proud of their knowledge of the law and their self-righteous ability to “follow the rules”. Leaders too proud to understand that they needed the humility, the healing, the salvation that Jesus was offering.

Tim McGraw’s song reminds us of what is important – to go to church, to spend time with the people we love, to say ‘please and thank you’, to live out the ten commandments – don’t steal, cheat or lie. The song acknowledges that life won’t always be easy, but that is not an excuse for behaving badly. That there is power in the words “I love you” and forgiveness, to be compassionate and help others along the way.

Tim McGraw urges us to be humble and kind. Jesus the Christ, came into the world humbly, He lived humbly and treated those around Him with kindness, setting for us an example of how we should live.

What would our world look like if we remembered that life on this planet is not fair, that life will be hard for all of us and harder for some and in response instead of looking down on others, we put them before ourselves, lifted them up, treated them with kindness. What if we held the door for someone else? What if we let someone go ahead of us in a line? What if we took the time to look someone in the eye long enough to see the pain in their heart? What if we lived the kind of life our Savior and Lord lived – a life of humility and kindness?

A Prayer
Father – help us to be humble and kind every day. Remind us that we are just sinners saved by Your grace and that we still fall short. Show us how to see the pain around us and how to share Your compassion and love with our world. Forgive us for those times when we think we are better than we really are, for the times when we forget we need Your Son. Help us live so that others see Jesus is who and what they need to make it through. In the name of Jesus, who is humble and kind – Amen.

Pierced

“But he was pierced for our transgressions…”
Isaiah 53:5a

I don’t know if it’s been the terrible stuff in the news, the Lenten sermon series we’re working through at church or the hard words from Jesus I’ve been given to preach on as part of that sermon series, but the word running about in my head the last few days has been pierced. I’ve thought about all the places people today pierce their bodies. I thought about how in the Old Testament if a servant decided he loved his pastor and didn’t want to be set free his ear was pierced and he was bound to his master for life. I’ve thought about how tragedy, senseless violence, cancer and all sorts of things can pierce our hearts.

Mostly I’ve thought about how Jesus was pierced. First his brow was pierced as the Roman soldiers mocked his supernatural kingship. Then his hands and feet were pierced as he – an innocent man was crucified for us. Was His heart pierced as His Father turned away? Finally, His side was pierced to prove that He had indeed succumbed to the punishment laid on Him.

I’ve thought about how Mary’s heart must have been pierced as she watched that day play out. Did all she had heard and experienced since his birth make sense now? I’ve thought about how Jesus’ piercing sacrifice wasn’t to make life on this planet perfect. It wasn’t to make us liked by everyone we encounter as we go about the task of living. It wasn’t about making us all winners or rewarding us for our participation. It was about healing our souls, it was about restoring not just our worldly broken relationships, but our relationship with the Creator of the universe. It was about setting in motion the restoration of His entire creation.

That piercing sacrifice was at the same time inclusive and exclusive. Inclusive in that the saving and healing power of is available for all. Exclusive in that only those who believe in the given Son are able to receive it. Only those who receive it are changed by it and freed from the penalty of sin.

“He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). That’s Good News for us.

We need His healing in our world, in our lives.

A Prayer
Father – how Your heart must have ached as Your Son was pierced for Your creation and your creatures. How it must have rejoiced as Jesus defeated death and all those who believed found healing and a place in Your family. If someone reading this doesn’t know the healing power of that sacrifice – touch them in a new way so that they see Jesus for who He really is. For those who believed, help us to live with eternity in sight, living our faith out loud for our hurting world to see. In the name of Jesus, who was pierced for our healing – Amen.

Render Your Heart

“Even now’ declares the Lord. ‘Return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and relents from sending calamity.”
Joel 2:12-13

It is the time of year when the Church begins one of its most important seasons. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of introspective, looking into our hearts and seeking what parts of our lives we are keeping from God. It is also a time when we try to relate to everything that Jesus experienced – from his 40 days in the wilderness being tempted to His death and resurrection. I will be honest and say that trying to find a fresh perspective on something that occurs year after year can be difficult. So as I was thinking about what to write about Ash Wednesday, I was looking through all sorts of passages. I looked at passages that had been earmarked for our church’s Lenten series and nothing was really standing out to me. Then I looked at the scripture passages that would be used for our Ash Wednesday service. I was surprised to find the prophet Joel. I have read Joel a number of times but had never thought of his words as speaking into this season.

As I read it this time the solemnness, the anguish - of Ash Wednesday, of Good Friday and yes even in the celebratory tone of the Triumphant entry - came screaming into my mind and heart. The passage above follows eleven verses of doom and gloom – of a plague of locust, that look like horses and leave desolation in their path, God’s judgement on a wicked and stiff necked people. But Joel doesn’t leave the people with this dreadful image in their heads – no God has more for him to share, a message that says perhaps all is not lost, perhaps the Lord God will reconsider and have mercy on the people.

In Biblical time is was a common practice when people were mourning or angry to tear their clothes – it was a way of expressing extreme and painful feelings. Joel tells the people that they needed to “rend their hearts.” The dictionary has this to say of the word “rend” – to separate into parts with force or violence, to tear apart, to tear ones’ garment or hair in grief or rage. Joel is telling the people that tearing their clothes will not be enough to show God that they are truly sorry for their sin and stiff necked behavior – no this time they must break open their hard hearts, to prove that indeed their hearts are broken over how they have behaved. Once they have rended their hearts Joel calls them back to God, assuring them that God is still filled with grace and compassion and love.

In a few short weeks we remember another solemn day, that today we call good. We will remember that Jesus rended His heart to restore our relationship with the father. The curtain that separated the most Holy place from everything and everyone will be violently torn from top to bottom as the Father grieves for His Son.

We are not so different from those of ancient times – we are all sinners doing things that separate us from a God who loves us. We can be stiff necked, not wanting to change – because that change might be uncomfortable, might make us more different from the world than we want to be. Joel is speaking to us though, as he did all those generations ago – encouraging us to rend out hearts and return to God, that we might receive grace and compassion, that we would feel His love restoring our torn hearts.

If we’ll rend our hearts out of sincere grief, He will make them whole again with His love.

A Prayer
Father – what powerful words your servant Joel spoke to the people. May his word echo though our spirits giving us the courage to rend our own hearts, that the work of your Son make restore them, making us whole and bringing us back to a right and loving relationship with the One who made us and calls us His child. May we have the courage to be who You want us to be, to be so different that others will see Jesus through the torn curtain. In the name of Jesus, who rended His heart so that we would be healed from our sin sickness – Amen.