When the System Works

The late Bill Vaughn, author and long-time columnist for the Kansas City Star, once said, "A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works."

In a similar fashion, I suppose you could say that a real person of faith is the person who can endure a trial and manage to do so with a sense of expectation and hope, even amid the pain - counting it all joy that God is indeed up to something in his or her life.  

Of course, we do not just grit our teeth and pretend to be "happy" throughout whatever trial we face.  That would be inauthentic.  No.  When we grieve - as real people in a real world filled with real pain - we have the freedom to grieve loudly, longly and well.  But we do not grieve as those who have no hope!  In fact, Scripture teaches us that even amid our grief, there is reason for joy.  

Joy and happiness are not the same thing, of course.  Not by a long shot.  Happiness is tied to the circumstance.  Joy is not.  The joy we have is not found in the trial we endure.  It's found in the God who endures the trial with us.  As God says in Isaiah, 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. - Isaiah 43.2

Most of the trials you and I face on a weekly basis are fairly minor.  Not all of them, of course.  Sometimes we get knocked off our feet.  But if we are to better be able to count it all joy when the big trials come, we had better start practicing on the little ones.  At least, that's what I've realized I need to do to if I'm to "consider it pure joy" when the tougher trials come.

Where do we find the joy we need to endure?  We find it in the promise, the reality that God goes with us and that he will meet us on the other side.  We find it in the knowledge that he has not nor will he ever forsake us.  Period.

What minor trial or frustration are you facing this week?  How might you practice counting it all joy in the small things so that you are better prepared for the big ones later?

What Edison, Willard and Jesus Have in Common

As you know if you've sat through enough of my sermons, I quote from Dallas Willard every once in a while (okay, maybe a little more than that).  That's because I believe he has much to teach us all about what it means to become all that Christ knows we can become in him.  One of my favorite Willard quotes is about the cost of non-discipleship.  That's right.  We often hear about the cost of discipleship, but there is a greater cost for our non-discipleship.  He writes:

Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10). (Devotional Classics, p.16)

Another quote - this one from Thomas Edison: "Discontent is the first necessity of progress."  Surely if we are to BECOME something more and better than what we are, we must experience some discontent first.  I believe this is the discontent of non-discipleship.  Surely you and I would rather not live lives devoid of the peace, love, faith, hope and power that Jesus came to bring us.  If we are not yet "there" (and who of us is?), then I pray we sense the depth of our discontent and allow it to be "the first necessity" of our progress toward spiritual maturity.  So often we think of what we will have to "give up" when we follow Christ.  But look at what we get!  God has great plans for each of us and for us as a community.  

On Sunday I shared with you another quote from Dallas Willard that I want to zero in on here as several of you have asked to have it made available to you.  Here it is again (and the link to the article in which I found it):

As Jesus’ disciple, I am his apprentice in kingdom living. I am learning from him how to lead my life in the Kingdom of the Heavens as he would lead my life if he were I. It is my faith in him that led me to become his disciple. My confidence in him simply means that I believe that he is right about everything: that all that he is and says shows what life is at its best, what it was intended by God to be.  - Dallas Willard

I love the power of these words, particularly in that third sentence: My confidence in him simply means that I believe that he is right about everything...  When is the last time you knew anyone you thought was right about everything?  And if you truly believed they were right about everything, why wouldn't you do whatever they said to do?  Imagine the simplicity of following someone, receiving teaching from someone who is right about everything.  It's a no-brainer - at least on an intellectual level.

Of course, it's one thing to know Jesus is right about everything; it's quite another to follow him.  This is where our discontent comes into play.  If Jesus is right about everything, then there are likely places in my life where my beliefs and behaviors are wrong.  And if that is the case, then there is more yet for me to learn and do and become.  I pray we all experience the full force of our discontentment, brothers and sisters.  I pray we sense a deep discontent where we are not yet enjoying the full blessings of discipleship; and I pray that we do not stay there, but move forward, becoming all that God plans for us to become.  Amen.

Pastor Stacey

Becoming the People Jesus Taught us to Become

In the coming months we will focus on what it means to become all that Jesus teaches us we can become in him.  Look at the "be" commands in our introductory video below.  Do you find them daunting?  Exciting?  Challenging?  Overwhelming?  All of the above?  Welcome to the club.  To become more Christlike is a tall order, but we do not do it alone.  We have God's Spirit, his word and the community of brothers and sisters on the journey with us.

The imagery we will be coming back to time and again in the months to come is that of the hammer striking hot metal, shaping it, bending it, re-forming it into something useful and strong and practical.  For this is what God does with us, too.  He shapes us into something better, useful and strong.

Of course, if we are to allow God to reshape us and mold us, we must put ourselves in places and practices where his grace can go to work in the transformation of our very being.  That takes the three ingredients I've mentioned several times over the past few years: Vision, Intention and Means - VIM.  We have the vision of where we can go and grow in Christ.  We have the means and methodologies - Bible studies, books, DVDs, small groups, classes, retreats - you name it.  What we lack is the intention.

The Good News of the gospel message is that Jesus has intention as well.  He intends that you and I be transformed by his grace, word, Spirit and one another.  What is your intention?

What do I Bring?

On my first every international missions trip, I travelled to Russia along with a team of 7 other college students for two months as a summer missions intern with a large missions organization.  Our translators were Russian nationals we hired to come alongside us for the two months and help us with all our translation needs as we travelled around the country.  Our main translator, we can call her Anna, was not a professing Christian.

On the day we met Anna she asked us a pretty straightforward question: Why are you here?  Why would a group of college students raise all this money and commit two months of their life to travel to Russia?

We told her that we sought to bring the message of salvation found in Jesus Christ to the children and teens of Russia (we were doing a traveling VBS-type program).  Of course, we also hoped to be a witness to Anna, and hopefully be able to minister to her as we did these programs across Russia.

As we answered her, she stopped in her tracks and looked at us, very confused, with a hint of disdain: “We (the country of Russia) have had Christianity a lot longer than you (America).  You have wasted your time and money.”

And so began our summer.....

As we go out and become fishers of people, we need to be able to understand what we are bringing to the table.  Yes, we bring a message of hope and salvation, but we must not think that we therefore have all the answers.  While there are certainly people in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus before, a majority of the people we interact with have, and sometimes there is another roadblock that keeps a person from giving their life to Christ.

In the case of Anna, she has known many Christians in Russia, and in fact translated for many missions teams over the years.  She knew full well who Jesus was, but the Christians she knew were ones who spoke out of two sides of there mouth.  Several  missions teams she had translated for, she told us, were among the worst.  It wasn’t a matter of lack of knowledge, it was a lack of whole life witness.

As we go and heed the call of Jesus to fish for people, let’s remember to seek God first for counsel as to how to proceed.  Often times, living our lives as a witness to God’s glory will be example enough for the people-centric ministry that God has called us to.  Other times, we will be called to use words and share with those who don’t know.

Either way, let’s be ready for those that God is going to place in our lives as we humbly set out and go!

Happy New Year!

It’s interesting from the show of hands on Sunday, and the number of stories shared with me following the sermon that many of us have the experiences mis-locating are children, even if only for a short while.  It seems that in the few years that our children are in our care, it’s not unusual to have this happen at least once.  As I stated Sunday, those must have been 3 long days and sleepless nights for Joseph and Mary.  Yet God always knew where Jesus was and despite the misunderstanding, Jesus was right where he was supposed to be…in his Father’s house, about his Father’s business.

The thought of mis-locating a child prompts strong emotions in each of us, but what about the idea of mis-locating Jesus in our own lives, today?  I’m talking from a priority standpoint.  Are you missing Jesus this Christmas?  Have you lost him?  I’m not referencing the idea of losing our salvation, but is it your custom to spend time with him?  Just like Mary and Joseph, we should know where to find him. You still find him in his Father’s house or about his Father’s business.  I’m hopeful that you will take some time this week to interact with the “Mission Briefing” and reflect on this Year of Living Dangerously.  Think about your customs, practices, or habits (ethos) as well as some ways in which you would like to grow in the New Year. 

It is pretty clear from the whole council of God in scripture that he cares about our growth.  Here are some scriptures that support this:

The importance of the Word of God: (Ps. 19:7-14; 119 [whole psalm]; Acts 20:32; Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Heb. 13:9; Jas. 1:21-22; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 2:2-4)

The importance of being in our Father’s House in regular worship:  Psalm 73:17; Rom. 14-15; 1 Cor. 12-14; Eph. 4:1-16; Heb. 10:23-25)

The importance of prayer:  Matt. 7:24-27; Mark 4:21-25

Perhaps you can reflect on these scriptures as you contemplate areas in which you should grow this coming year.  

-Pastor Kurt