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.