when joy and sorrow meet

The shepherds received good news that would cause great joy for all people.  So have we.  But sometimes we forget just how good this news really is.  On Sunday we spent time in our worship acknowledging our grief and sorrow during the Christmas season.  We provided an opportunity for any who wanted to acknowledge that grief and the hope we have in Christ by lighting a candle.  In addition, of course, we took that time to remember the victims of the violence in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday and to pray for their families and loved ones.  Joy and sorrow mixed into our worship and for some I imagine it felt strange.  For most of us, however, I hope that strangeness was transformed into the hope and Good News of the gospel.

The night before our worship the cast and crew of the NBC television show, Saturday Night Live, opened their show in an uncharacteristic way.  A children's choir graced the stage and sang Silent Night.  I find it moving and fascinating that, when faced with incredible sorrow and pain, the producers of the show found solace and dignity in a hymn that extols the power of the birth of our Savior.  My guess is that they did not do so because of the strong Christian imagery, so much as the song's portrayal of innocence and peace.  Either way, they found that light in the context of the incarnation, whether they realized it or not.  I pray this will be a reminder to us all that the hope we need, the light we need in the darkest of times is found in Christ, God incarnate, God with us, come to set us free and teach us a new way to live.  I encourage you to listen, watch and ponder God incarnate this day, as we move ever closer to celebrating Christmas.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Stacey

on the job with Jesus

St. Joseph the Carpenter
Georges de la Tour

Joseph may not have been a wealthy man, but he was a working man. The Bible just says he was a carpenter; we know nothing else. He may have been an itinerant skilled worker or may have had his own shop, or he may have had steady work along with other skilled workers working on rebuilding Sepphoris, a city only 4 miles away from Nazareth that had been the site of a Jewish uprising against Rome in 4 BC and had been completely destroyed. The rebuilding was a project that basically took place during the whole scope of Jesus’ lifetime. We don’t know how Joseph used his skills, but for Joseph, going to work was not a break from Jesus. Jesus wasn’t just staying home with Mary (and as Jesus got older, this was literally true), but the one who constructed the raw materials with which Joseph was constructing was right there with Joseph. The one who takes broken lives and makes something useful was guiding Joseph’s hands, making something useful from broken wood.

May the above painting by Georges de la Tour, St. Joseph the Carpenter, be an inspiration for you in your daily grind, whether that’s sitting in an office cubicle, putting on brake pads, teaching children, feeding children, or looking for employment. This is where God has you serving him, at least for today. And Jesus is with you. In the painting we see a tired Joseph at work, and a young Jesus accompanying him. The young Jesus is lit up, the light from the candle brightly glowing off his face and even shining through his fingers, surely yet calmly recognizing the shape of the cross through Joseph’s work.

May Jesus accompany you at work today. May he bring light to your darkness. May he be the Master and you be the apprentice, because he created this position and line of work for you (at least for today). And may his light reveal that the product of what you’re accomplishing as you work, with and for the Lord (not just human bosses), takes the cruciform shape of the redeeming and re-creating of God’s world.

- Pastor Bo Bannister

the point of no return

I read recently (and double-checked with an expert!) that when a plane is heading down the runway, preparing to take off, the captain's hand is on the throttle until the co-pilot says, "V1."  "V1" is the term for the speed at which the aircraft crosses over "the point of no return."  At this point, it is too late to stop the plane, regardless.  It must take off.  Once the "V1" is given, the captain can take his or her hand off the throttle.  The craft and its crew have passed the point of no return.  They are committed, as we say.  The plane will take off.

When the angel Gabrielle announces to Mary that she will conceive, carry and give birth to the Messiah, she is rapidly approaching "V1".  At a certain point in this journey, there will be no turning back.  She, too, is committed.

It strikes me that this is what all of us are called to do in our relationships with Christ, as well.  Cross the point of no return.  Commit to the journey and the mission and Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God, "no turning back, no turning back," for he has done the same for us.

As we move into this first week of the season of Advent, I pray that we will be mindful of Mary's commitment to "V1" and that we will reinforce our own commitments to Christ and his mission, infused with the hope of the season - the promise that because of the incarnation (God's "enfleshment" into our world) we are not stuck in our ways or in our sin.  The Kingdom of God is near!

freedom from the perch

In her book 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, author Suzy Orman tells the story of a merchant she met in Mexico one time who was selling parrots.  The parrots, she noticed, were not in cages but  tightly clinging to the perches out in the open.  They could have flown away at any moment, but did not.  When she asked the merchant why this was the case he told her, "I train them to think their perches mean safety and security. When they come to think this, they naturally wrap their claws tightly around the perch and don't want to release it. They keep themselves confined, as if they've forgotten they know how to fly."

Orman wanted to know if this was difficult to train them in this way.  The merchant responded that, while it was very difficult with younger birds, the older ones were quite easy to train.  Orman writes, 

Suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head. We are just like those poor parrots. We have been taught to clutch our money as tightly as we can, as if our money is the perch of our safety and security. Just like those parrots, we have all forgotten how free we really are—with or without the perch. The more afraid we are, the tighter we hold on, and the more we have trapped ourselves. (p.262, Three Rivers Press, 2000)

The man in the parable from Luke 19.11-27 was not unlike those parrots.  Fearing loss and punishment, rather than taking the risk of investing his mina, he held tightly to it, finding this the "safe" and "more secure" option.  We do the same, I think.  God calls us to live and give freely, to trust in him and invest all that we've been given in his kingdom work, but we give in to fear.  We hold tightly to our gifts and blessings, almost as if we believe this is the safest thing to do.  The truth is, however, it's not safe at all.  The parable reveals that the wisest and safest thing to do is let go; hold loosely.  What God honors most is risk and faith and lives of putting to work all that we've been given for his purposes in the world.

I pray that in the uncertainties of life in the 21st century that we would all learn to let go of the perch of our imagined safety and fly freely into the world of God's grace, trustworthiness and mission.  Amen.

bold obedience

The above clip was sent to me after Sunday's message on stewardship.  Craig Groeschel is an ordained Covenant pastor and lead pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Edmond, Oklahoma.  The whole clip is good and fits nicely into The Year of Living Dangerously, but if you're a bit pressed for time, go to about 2:30 in.  That's where he speaks more specifically about stewardship and stepping out in faith.  I'll shut up now so that you can watch.  Peace!

- Pastor Stacey

stuff, stewardship and thanksgiving

On December 27, 2003, a man in the Bronx nearly died at the hands of his "stuff."  The 43-year-old man had lived a reclusive life for decades and may well have suffered from some form of mental illness, but his predicament paints a powerful picture of what greed and materialism can do to us spiritually and emotionally, if not literally.

Over the years this man, Mr. Moore, had collected stacks and stacks of magazines, newspapers, books, catalogues and junk mail.  And he lived in a tiny 10 by 10 foot room!  On the day in question, as he was making his way across the room, all of his stacks came tumbling down around him, literally.  He was stuck, encased in the stacks,trapped standing up for nearly two days before neighbors finally heard him calling out.  When emergency workers arrived, they had to haul away 50 garbage bags full of stuff just to get to Mr. Moore!  Again, I emphasize, this man likely suffered from some disorder and my intention is not to make fun of him or others who suffer in such a way, but to challenge us to consider how all of us have "stuff" that threatens our livelihood in other ways, as well.  We may not be literally crowded out of house and home because of our addiction to things and money, but we may be crowded out spiritually and emotionally.  We may be trapped and enslaved, but God wants us to be free to enjoy the "things" of life and the money of this world, without becoming enslaved or trapped by it.  It reminds of comedian George Carlin's routine on "Stuff."  He remarked once that our houses are simply places "to put your stuff while you go out and get more stuff."

This month, as we both consider a biblical view of stewardship and the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, I pray we all take stock of the things we hold on to, the things we "collect" and the hunger for yet even more of the same in our lives.  More than this, I pray we all get a picture of the freedom that Christ wants to be ours as we seek to faithfully steward over all that he has given us in this life.  And may we do so with gratitude and thanksgiving.  Amen.

when the man in black tithed

I once read a story about Johnny Cash, late in his life, joining a church in the Nashville area and making a point of telling the pastor that he fully intended to tithe.  On the chance that some might not know what that means, it means that he intended to give 10% of his income to the church.  The pastor supposedly responded, "Don't you dare!  You'll ruin my church!"  Now, I haven't been able to find that story again and it may not be completely true.  One never knows with stories like these.  Either way, it makes a good point.

Supposedly, the pastor knew that if one tenth of Johnny Cash's income began to poor into the offering plates all needs of the church would be met and this was unacceptable.  How could this be inacceptable?  Well, at the core of the tithing and stewardship discussion is the reality that, while churches do have budgets and needs (including ours, of course), what is most important is the reality that learning to be generous, to give sacrificially and to steward well over our finances is a necessary discipline if we are to become the fully formed followers of Jesus God intends we become.  If Johnny Cash's tithe began to make people in the church think their giving was "unnecessary," they might stop giving.  And if they stopped giving, their discipleship journey would be stalled and the health of the church would be in question.

The story goes that after some discussion, the pastor and the Man in Black came to an agreement that, while Johnny could give some of his finances to the church, the bulk of his tithe would go to other needs outside the church.  Johnny still tithed, but to other ministries, because stewardship was key for his discipleship, too.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way,

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.  Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. (Philippians 4.15-17, emphasis mine)

Catch that?  Paul is not concerned that his readers meet his need.  He's concerned that what they give will be "credited" to their "account."  In other words, it's good for them to tithe, regardless of the impact it might have on Paul and his ministry.  Giving is good for us.

Later in that passage Paul emphasizes, And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus (v.19).  Paul knows that in the end, it is God who meets needs, not good offerings.  God has met his need and he will meet the needs of his readers as well.  These are the words of a person who has learned to trust in God, not in wealth or possessions.  This is where he finds his security.

May we all so find our security in God alone that we, too, can become the generous, giving, fully devoted followers of Jesus God intends we become.  Amen.

of pigpens and parties

In the pigpen, the Rebellious son came to his senses and devised a plan that would help him acquire some food. He would be a servant and work his way back into the household. Because of his father's costly demonstration of love, his plan went away and he repented of his sin. The servant became a son. The last time we see the rebellious son he is in his father's robe and going into a party.

His brother, the Religious son, had a different reaction to the father's love. When he refused to come to the party, his father demonstrated costly love for the second time in the same day. He humiliated himself by leaving the party to plead with this son to come in and join the celebration. The host would never think of insulting his guests by leaving the party. What did the father gain by this demonstration of love toward his religious son? Nothing. The last time we see the religious son he is screaming at his father accusing him of everything from showing favoritism to not obeying the Jewish laws. (If the rebellious son really hung out with prostitutes he deserved death and not a party.) 

 We all must answer this question: Am I rebellious or am I religious? If I am rebellious I am like the young son. I want whatever is new. I break the rules and Commandments. I disobey. I sin in the open. I use people. I am self centered. If I am religious, I am like the older son. I want what is traditional. I keep the rules and Commandments. I am obedient. I sin in secret. I judge people. I am self righteous. The truth is that both sons were using the father, just in different ways. Neither son loved the father. 

Here's the Good News. The same act of self-emptying love pays the penalty for those who are rebellious and for those who are religious. Jesus is a friend of all of us! He is the suffering servant who took our sin at the cross. We didn't deserve his love, grace, or forgiveness but He runs to us ready to take us in his arms, smother us in kisses, and welcome us into His family. When we respond in repentance, in heaven there is joy! Are you lost and ready to be found? I pray you respond to the costly love of the father.  

- Tim Ahlgrim

limitless grace, limitless demand

One of the key elements of the the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37) that we looked at on Sunday, is what it requires of us.  The same could be said of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25.  These teachings (and others we could point to) ought to cause us to bristle a bit when we cling to salvation is by grace too tightly.  Don't get me wrong.  Salvation is by grace.  It's a gift.  But salvation is also much more than assurance of our eternal destiny.  Belief is much more than intellectual or emotional ascent.  It is life change in action.  We were born again to become more like Christ in every way.  What we believe (God's saving work in Christ Jesus) ought to transform our very lives into the kind of people, in the expert in the law's own words, who love God with all of our hearts, souls, strength and minds, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Sometimes, as I've said before, I have to leave things out of my sermons for the sake of time.  That was true this week, too.  As I studied and wrote, I found several gems I wanted to pass along to you.  Here they are.  Think on them.  Pray through them.  Let them do their work on you and God's Holy Spirit through them.

"One cannot define one's neighbor; one can only be a neighbor." 

- Franz Leenhardt

"The fear of works righteousness is far to exaggerated in most churches.  Would that there were an equal fear of being found inactive!  We would do better to realize that people who do not work cannot be righteous."

- Klyne Snodgrass   

"P. Jones is correct in saying that the parable exposes any religion with a mania for creeds and an anemia for deeds."

- Klyne Snodgrass referencing Peter Rhea Jones

And my personal favorite:

"The kingdom comes with limitless grace in the midst of an evil world, but with it comes limitless demand."

- Klyne Snodgrass 

Go and do likewise!

- Pastor Stacey

pray without ceasing

In Thessalonians 5.17, the Apostle Paul encourages us to "pray continually," or in some translations, "pray without ceasing."  How are we to do this?  Does Paul simply mean that we are to always pray everyday?  Or does he mean that we are to live our lives, engaging in prayer literally, without ceasing?  Both are good and important, but I believe that Paul is asking for a way of life that is lived in communion with God moment by moment, second by second, each day.  This is the way his words have most often been interpreted down through the centuries, as well.

Frank Laubach, missionary to the Philippines, believed so, too.  In the early 20th century he began an experiment in which he attempted to keep his mind and heart aware of God every minute of the day, in constant conversation, regardless of what he was doing.  He even went so far as to record in his journal a percentage of the time he felt he had been able to be consciously in communion with God each day!  It was one way to very literally obey Paul's instruction to pray continually.

On Sunday, at the end of the sermon, I had all of the congregation join me in a prayer exercise in which I encouraged what is known as breath prayer - prayer said as we breathe in and breathe out.  This form of prayer might seem similar to some Eastern religious practices, but it has also long been a type of prayer engaged in by the monastic community, particularly of the Eastern Orthodox tradition.  At issue, of course, is who or what is the focus of those prayers?  Clearly, in the Christian faith, Christ is the focus.  We sit in silence, slow down our lives and bodies, so that we may commune and converse with Christ.

Likewise, fasting is another devotional practice engaged in by Christians throughout history, but it is also a practice engaged in by other religions, Islam for example.  Once again, the practices are similar, but the purpose and the One for whom we fast as followers of Jesus, are very different.

Having said all of that, what is most important is that we pray.  However God might lead you to pray - written prayers, praying the hours, breath prayers, in silence and solitude, shouting at the top of your lungs, early in the morning or late in the evening - my prayer for each of you is that you will commune with God without ceasing, day in and day out.  To God be the glory!

- Pastor Stacey

becoming something better

Perhaps you've heard the old saying, "God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way."  Sounds trite, I'm sure.  But there is profound truth in that little saying.  And that truth is at the root of what we talked about on Sunday - the two different kinds of people represented in the judgment story we call, "The Sheep and the Goats."

After the division on Judgment Day, those who had cared for the poor and the needy were welcomed into eternal life.  Those who failed to care for them were sent away to eternal punishment (Mt 25.46).  Both were loved by God, but only one group had entered into a relationship with him to the extent that they allowed his grace to transform them into something more and something better.

As we care for "the least of these" Jesus mentions, their lives will be changed.  As we sponsor children through Covenant Kids Congo or reach out to those in need next door, I believe that lives, households and entire societies can be changed.  In addition, however, I believe it is equally true that we too will be changed.  Becoming the kind of people that care for the least of these as a way of life is as good for us as it is for those to whom we minister.

Our hard work and generosity towards the needs of others are not prerequisites for salvation or for God's love at work in our lives.  Not at all.  But they do play a part in helping us become the kind of people God wants us to become.  The disciplines of generosity and service toward others are ways in which we cooperate with God's Spirit and Grace, not only to create a more just and loving world, but to become more just, loving and godly people.

I pray this week you make the time to cooperate with God's grace and Spirit, that you will become more of the person longs to see you become.  Amen.

when WWJD? won't do

A few weeks ago I borrowed from Dallas Willard's definition of the Kingdom of God as being that place and time where what God wants done is done.  It begs the question, of course, of what exactly it is that God wants done.  This is the same question brought up by those WWJD? bracelets of a few years ago (are they still around?).  The book in which those bracelets had their genesis was entitled, In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? and it was written by Charles Sheldon and published in 1897.  It was a novel about people who sought to live their lives asking and answering the question in the title, thus transforming their town.

The estimates are all over the place, but anywhere from 15 to 52 million bracelets have been sold to date.  The book, to date, has sold 30 million copies.  One of the reasons the book has sold so well (it's the 9th best selling book of all time according to Wikipedia.com) is because the original publisher failed to properly register the copyright, thus giving rise to other editions from other publishers.  These publishers were able to sell the book rather cheaply and pay no royalties to its author.  I don't know about you but I'm pretty sure Jesus wouldn't do that!

This just goes to show that you can sell a lot of bracelets and books (you and millions of others can read the book and wear the bracelets), but this is no guarantee that those reading or wearing them understand the truth contained therein.  It may be a great "witness" and Christian "fashion statement" but it's rather difficult to know what Jesus would do (what God wants done) if we do not know God.

If we are to seek the kingdom of God, we will have to get to know the king of that kingdom better.  And how do we do this?  We do this through the gifts of God's word (Scripture), God's Holy Spirit dwelling with in us (via prayer and a truly Spirit-led life) and by authentic community with other brothers and sisters in Christ who hold us accountable, pray for us and support us.  If we are to truly make the treasure or pearl of the kingdom our own, let us seek to know God, his people and his word better and better.  Amen.

much with little

We spent time on Sunday morning talking about how small you are and how big God is. Just so we don’t forget what the point of the mustard seed parable is, it’s good to know that in God’s kingdom, our small, coupled with God’s big, goes a long way. God’s immensity is the invisible factor that makes our small look awesome – that is, if we let God have his way with it.

There was a point in time when 5,000 men (plus women and children) were in the middle of nowhere because they wanted to follow Jesus and learn from him. Let me rephrase that: There were over 5,000 people who were at the most happening place on the planet while everyone else stayed wherever it was they were, which seemed like the middle of nowhere by comparison. Still the problem is that this crowd and Jesus were somewhere there was not enough edible sustenance to satisfy everybody’s needs. The disciples logically concluded: “That’s a wrap. Time to send the people home. It’s been great, but it’s over now, because our tummies are growling.” They were still getting to know Jesus, who we now know thinks that the Godfest never stops, even when we life’s needs arise. “You go get them something to eat.”

So they work the crowd and try to see what kind of food was already there that maybe could be shared. They spent time doing that and all they came up with was that there was one boy who was willing to share his five rolls and two fish with everybody. Aww. How sweet. If that’s all we got, we’re back to square 1. The boy might as well keep it. This is obviously not going to work. Either because the boy insisted or because the disciples at least had to say something, they actually presented to Jesus the boy’s gift to the community. Jesus’ response: “Okay, great! Have everybody sit down and pass these around.” What? But they do it anyway, and everyone eats, and there are basketfuls left over. (I would think these baskets would have gone back to the boy, but I guess that’s the Lord’s call.) No small gift – nobody fed. One small gift – everybody fed. Give God your little and it becomes huge. (This is a paraphrase of the first part of John 6, by the way.)

Consider how the woman who put in the two pennies attracts Jesus’ praise more than any of the other givers, because Jesus knew her heart and sacrifice in the gift (Luke 21:1-4). Even though the gift was so relatively small to others, her heart was huge, and her legacy has gone round the world. Everything you have comes from God, so in a way, you cannot control the nature or possible amount of what you have to give back to God. But you can control your heart size. Look what happens when you turn up the love volume.

Consider Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). A master entrusts his servants with money while he’s away. They are to do business with them and see what kind of return they get. Two of them invested, and one saved so as not to lose anything. They investors quickly doubled the money. The one fearful of losing gained nothing except the disappointment of his master. It wasn’t his call to make, whether or not to invest. His master said to. If his investment lost money, oh well, maybe there would be some things to learn for the future. But he was disobedient, and he did not give away what his master told him to give away. He acted as though the money were his. If he just knew that he was holding on to such a powerful thing to invest (his fellows doubled their money) he would have realized what an awesome and important job he was given to do!

You might not have much, but you do have something. You don’t even realize what an awesome and important job you have been given: Invest as much of yourself as possible into God’s kingdom purposes that transform the world, with a heart as big as you can make it, and just like the mustard seed, explosive growth is inevitable (but God controls what that looks like and the timing). Embrace your smallness, and then kiss it good-bye. In God’s kingdom, there are only big things in store once you give away your small gift with great love.

- Pastor Bo

being with Jesus

On Sunday we talked about the parable of the sower in Mark 4.1-20 and our calling to scatter the seed of God's Good News in Christ Jesus wherever we go.  We cannot know the condition of the soil into which we scatter the seed, but we remain faithful to scatter and sow whenever we have the opportunity.

Just one chapter back from that parable, however, is a reminder of what it means to be a disciple in the first place.  If we are to be faithful in scattering the seed and spreading the news, in word and deed, we must first take care that we, too, are receiving the word well.  Our hearts must be made of good soil, too.  In Mark 3.13-19 we have the calling of those first disciples, the Twelve.  There we are told that Jesus appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons (vv.14-15).  Before we have the authority and power to go out and "preach," we must be with him.  

How are we to do that?  We spend time with Christ in prayer and in Scripture reading, of course. But we also spend time in the community of God's people as well.  When we are with brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, we are with Christ.  We get to know Christ better in these settings and are better prepared to go and preach and to drive out demons.  It reminds me of the stewards and stewardesses on airplanes who go through the whole safety routine before take-off.  When talking about the oxygen masks, he/she says, "Remember to put your own mask on before helping someone else with their mask."  In other words, you're not much good to someone else if you're not taking care of yourself.  How true.  Before we can successfully scatter the seed of God's Good News, we must receive it and nourish it in our own lives, first.  

How are you doing in "being with" Jesus this week?  Are you making time for the necessary disciplines of prayer, Scripture reading, community and corporate worship?  Make sure your own oxygen mask is secure before you help someone else with theirs.

red, yellow, green

In the past I have been a runner.  I'm trying to get back into the game, of late.  I have an app on my iPhone that helps me do so.  Some of you have this app or a similar one as well.  One of the cool features of this app is that it marks out my running path.  The faster I ran, the greener the path.  The places where I slowed down a bit are yellow and when I took a break and walked, it's flat out red.  You can see from my run on the left, I walked a fair amount!

What if we had an app that followed us all day long and color coded our goings, not according to speed but according to our meaningful interactions and kingdom-giving conversations with others?  What might that app look like in your life and mine.  The green marks might show where we were prayerful and conscious of what God is doing in our lives and relationships, perhaps even able to reach out to someone in a practical way.  That wouldn't mean that we had to necessarily share our own testimony (though it might) or that we had to invite someone to church (but we could have).  A strong green line would simply show that in whatever we were doing, we were aware that God was present and we were open to be used by him - whether that be in acts of kindness or mercy, or in words of faith spoken to others.

Yellow lines would be those places where we were just sort of moving along, going through the routine, neither being inappropriate or appropriate.  Just on cruise, perhaps; not living as intentionally and missionally as God hopes we will learn to live.

Red lines would be those places where we missed opportunities for God to work in and through us with others.  Maybe we were rude to someone or cut them off.  Perhaps we opted to look out for ourselves above the needs of another.  Or maybe we acted or spoke to someone in a way that ran contrary to the teaching of Scripture and our calling to be "salt and light" in the world.  We would all likely have those red lines at times, but my prayer is that they become fewer and fewer, shading more toward yellow and then a bright green as we grow in our relationships with God and in pursuit of his mission to love him with all that we are, love our neighbors as ourselves and make disciples of all nations.

Sometime today, pause and consider your pathway so far.  What lines would be on your app?  What color has your pathway been today as you have been going into the world?  Are you striving to live intentionally and missionally?  If not, it's not too late.  Spend some time in prayer, and step out again.  Go into all the world and make disciples of all peoples, and know that Christ is with you always, to the very end of the age (or your day)!  May all our paths burn greener and greener!  Amen.

the Jesus Creed

On Sunday we talked about Jesus' answer to the question, "What is the most important commandment?" in Mark 12.28-34.  Jesus' answer, you will remember, was to combine a passage from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19, saying,  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O       Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12.29-31)

Several years ago, after I had begun to wrestle with this most important commandment in my own understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, I discovered that Scot McKnight had written the book, The Jesus Creed, exploring the same question.  As a follow up to Sunday's message, I would like to encourage you to read The Jesus Creed, if you have not already done so.  It's a powerful treatment of Jesus' own version of the Shema and a book that has much to teach us about what it might look like if we, too, began to allow it to transform our lives today.

McKnight believes that Jesus' earliest followers, who were Jewish, may have actually used his version of the Shema as a part of their daily prayers, each morning and evening.  In this way, he argues, Jesus shaped his newly formed band of disciples and he continues to want to form us today, as well.

How might it shape you to make loving God and loving others the foundation of your interaction with the world in which you live?  

for Christ and for the gospel

Over a nine year period, Ray Romano, star of the sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond, rose from struggling comedian to one of the highest paid actors on television.  After the taping of the last show, in May 2005, Romano came out and spoke to the studio audience and reflected on his past and future, now that the show had finished its run.  He took out a piece of paper, a note his brothers had stuck in his luggage the day he moved from New York to Hollywood to pursue fame and fortune, nine years earlier.  He read from the note, “My older brother Richard wrote, ‘What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?’” Choking back tears, Romano continued, “Now I’m going to work on my soul.”  

I don't know if Ray Romano ever did work on his soul, but I know where that verse came from.  It was from our passage on Sunday, Mark 8.34-38.  I also know that the choice between "working on our soul" or pursuing the best that this life has to offer, is a choice each of us has to make, not just those of us who are pursuing fame and fortune.  The better choice, by far, is in favor of the life God has to offer us in Christ Jesus, the life of discipleship.

An interesting note about our passage on Sunday is that, although some form of these three verses appears in every gospel, Mark has one detail the others don’t.  In the other places where these verses appear, Jesus says, “but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it.”  In Mark's version, however, Jesus says, “but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”  What an interesting detail.  It’s not only for Jesus’ sake that we must be willing to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him.  It is also for the sake of the gospel, or, more literally, the “Good News.”  And what is that Good News?  

The Good News is salvation by grace through faith in Christ.  The Good News is the mission of Jesus, God’s purposes in the world.  The Good News is intentional lives lived by faithful, missional followers of Jesus in the 97% of our waking hours lived outside of church and church related activities.  And the good news is not just about where we go when we die.  It’s also about how we live while we’re here.  We need good news here and now, not just in the hereafter.  Working on our soul, as Romano put it, is about the mission to which God calls us as well as our own personal relationships with Christ.

Some scholars believe that Mark's version of Jesus' words, here, became a rallying cry for the Early Church, especially when facing persecution: "For Christ and for the gospel!"  What a fitting cry for our lives of discipleship today and for the mission to which God calls us.  May that be your cry and mine as we seek to know God, follow Jesus and pursue God's purposes in the world, this week and always.  Amen.

how then shall we live?

A friend and I meet nearly every week at a favorite restaurant for lunch.  We've been doing so for years.  Every week the same people wait on us and tend to our needs.  Just recently my friend began asking the names of those who serve us every week so that we could better know them.  He even keeps track of their names in a note on his phone.  What a great idea!  Now we can pray for them by name and be open for what God might want to do in and through me (us) when we dine there.  As the Apostle John reminded us on Sunday, And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life.  And this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life.  Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5.11-12).

John's words are straightforward and blunt.  The temptation, of course, is to aim them at those who do not yet have the life John speaks of, as if they were weapons.  But John's words are written first and foremost to us - those of us who claim to know God, follow Jesus and pursue God's purposes in the world.

Even though John's straightforward words are not intended as weapons, they are intended to inform and equip us as followers of Jesus.  If eternal, abundant, God-intended life is only found in the Son of God, how then ought we to live our lives, go about our business and engage in our relationships with others?  What difference should it make?  What ought our attitude be toward those who do not yet have the life God offers us in and through his Son?  If God really did "so love the world that he gave his one and only Son," what are we to do with that message in the 97% of our waking hours lived outside of ECC and ECC-related events?

Certainly we do not have to preach it on street corners (though that may indeed be what God calls some to do).  Nor do we have to inject our faith into every conversation we have with those who do not yet have the life we have.  Rather, we ought to begin, I think, with prayer.  Let us pray for our neighbors and co-workers, family members and friends and those we barely know.  My hope is, as I begin to more intentionally pray for my friends at the restaurant (and my neighbors and family members as well), that God will open doors, ears and hearts for us to bear witness to the testimony of eternal life in Christ Jesus.  We all need to be reminded from time to time, as church consultant Bill Easum says, "Jesus always comes to us on his way to someone else."