Washed in the Blood

Then one of the elders spoke to me. "Who are these people dressed in white robes?" he asked. "Where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." He said, "They are the ones who have come out of the time of terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

-- Revelation 7:13-14 (NIRV)

The old hymn swept into my head and played there, filling my mind with vivid imagery, reminding me of why our Lord Savior allowed Himself to be beaten and hung upon a cross...

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

John experienced vivid imagery also, while exiled there on the isle of Patmos. The Lord came to John and showed him the future, the time when Jesus would come again to claim His church. John saw horrible events and unspeakable creatures tormenting those walking the earth during the days before Christ's return. Earthquakes, fire from the sky, unworldly warriors striking people down left and right. He stood as the stuff of nightmares unfolded around him. As the devastation began and the horsemen were loosed upon the world, he listened as one angel warned others, "Do not harm the land or the sea or trees" until 144,000 that serve God were marked with seals upon their foreheads, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob.

But then he looked and in front of him appeared a huge crowd of people, so many that no one could count them, from every nation, tribe, people and language of the earth. They were all wearing white robes, much whiter than snow.

Not just 144,000, not just from the sons of Jacob, not just the children of Abraham, but more people than can be counted and from all corners of the earth they came. All washed white in the blood of the Lamb. All washed clean of their sins by the wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb. You and I, all of us can be part of that mighty throng.

Only one question remains. Our hymn asks it of us all...

Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Do we serve Jesus? It seems so little to ask for what we are given, but do we even sing His praises so that others may hear and know how great is our Lord? We serve our Savior by following His teachings, by loving each other as He loves us, as God loves Him. We sing His praises by living our lives as an open example of how He lived, of how He would have us live. We serve and we sing by sharing His word, by spreading the Gospel of our risen King. We serve and we sing by helping others wash their robes in the precious blood of the spotless Lamb.

There is power, power, wonder working power, for you and for me, in the precious blood of the Lamb.

Amen.

We Plead With You

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

-- 2 Corinthians 6:1

Paul packed a huge amount of information in that one short sentence. It contains an overall plea not take lightly the wonderful gift God has given us, but also several other messages of equal importance. Let's take this apart and try to get all the goodness out of it we can.

Although this verse comes to us from Second Corinthians, many Bible scholars consider this to actually be Paul's third letter to the church in Corinth, the second being long since lost and not included in the scriptures. Remember that Paul started the church in Corinth and stayed there for nearly two years, eventually turning it over to the young disciple Timothy. The first letter addressed issues Paul saw arise in the church after he left it. The second is suspected to be a scathing reply to the church as they failed to heed Paul's cautionary message in the first letter. Perhaps this message carried a little too much emotion or fire, or maybe it was too narrowly focused so as not to be suited for the universal audience that the Bible was intended, and that is why it has been lost to us. Whatever the reason, the text of Second Corinthians seems to indicate a previous letter was delivered, received, and acted upon by the church members and that they now were following Paul's instructions. This third letter was then to let them know they were doing the right thing but that they should now forgive the offender that caused so much trouble before and allow him back into the church.

In this verse, when Paul uses the word "we", he could be directly referring to himself and Timothy, and possibly including Titus, another disciple who served as messenger in carrying these letters, or he could be implying all of us, the entire body of Christ left on earth, His whole church. In either case, it is clear he considers this message important enough that he shows that others are in agreement with the plea, that others share the concern of the message. We plead with you, not just myself but my friends and colleagues also, and maybe the entire church. We all care about you and want you to be pleasing to God.

And who are we? We are workers, together, with Him. Those four words, workers together with Him, should make everyone who tries to follow Christ's example fall humbled to their knees and swell up with pride both at the same time! We are workers. We don't simply sit on the sidelines watching, we don't lean on a shovel while others toil, we don't sit at the table waiting to be fed while others toil in the field. We are workers. We work together. Two can accomplish more together than they could ever effect alone, and many working together, united as one, with one common goal, can show truly wondrous results from their efforts. We not only work together, friends side by side, but we also work with Him, with Christ, with God. We don't work _for_ Christ, we work _with_ Him. He toils right alongside us. Doesn't that fill you with pride, that the God of all creation would be willing to work right beside you in the fields of humanity to harvest souls? But doesn't that also humble you, to know that our risen Savior would so lower Himself to labor with you?

Paul cared so much about the church in Corinth that it was important to him that they not think he was trying to tell them what to do, even though he was. Too much was at stake for them to turn a deaf ear. Too great was his love for the people, the congregation, that they ignore advice. So what could he do but beg them to listen? When we pray, we should always remember to thank God for all He gives us, but we also almost always ask for something we or our loved ones need. We plead with Him, please Father help us in this trial. It was in this manner that Paul addressed the church in his letter: he wanted them to understand he was praying, that he was pleading with them. By extension, he and the other disciples and all of the church of our Lord are pleading with all of us to heed this message, to pay attention to these words.

And that message is to caution us not to receive the grace of God in vain. How can we receive God's grace in vain? Everyone who has ever given a gift to an unappreciative recipient can answer this. Have you known someone who takes the gift and squanders or wastes it to where they get little or nothing from it in the end? They have received that gift in vain, for it did them no good. God's grace is the most wonderful, beautiful gift anyone could ever receive. It is given freely to everyone, yet deserved by none. Nothing we could possibly do would ever merit such a gift, no amount of gold could ever equal its worth. The price of the gift has already been paid, at horrendous cost: the blood of our pure and living Savior. This is a gift not to be taken lightly, a treasure not to be squandered wastefully, but one to be savored and rejoiced over, one to be shared with everyone we come across, one made perfect on the cross. That gift is our salvation, our freedom from death, a life of eternity spent at the foot of our Lord.

Thank Paul for his insistent warning. Thank God for His grace and faithfulness. Amen.

Your Servant Hears

Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

-- 1 Samuel 3:10

When Samuel was a young man, he studied under Eli, an established prophet and teacher among the Israelites. God seldom spoke directly to people in this period. In fact, the third chapter of First Samuel starts out by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation." (1 Samuel 3:1b) So when God called out to Samuel in the night, he mistook the voice as being that of his teacher Eli summoning him. So he got up and ran to Eli, eagerly saying "Here I am, for you called me." (1 Samuel 3:5b) Of course it was not Eli that called, and he told Samuel so. After repeating this little performance three times, Eli finally realized that it was God calling Samuel, so he instructed the boy in what to say if he should hear the voice again. Sure enough, God called Samuel yet again, and more insistently. This time Samuel knew it was the Lord thanks to Eli and answered "Speak, for Your servant hears." (1 Samuel 3:10c)

We again find ourselves in a period in history where God seldom speaks directly to His people. Since God came down to earth to walk among us as Jesus Christ then ascended once again into heaven, we have little written record of authority of anyone hearing God's voice after the Apostles. Saul clearly heard God when struck blind on the road to Damascus. And John was "in the Spirit" on the Lord's Day while in exile on the island of Patmos when he heard a loud voice that related to him the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But generally we tend to question the sanity of anyone who claims that God had spoken to them, especially if they accompany that claim with some act they were instructed to carry out.

Yet how many of us have not felt as if God indeed talked to us? This sensation comes not necessarily in a voice one can hear with their ears, with sound waves compressing the air and carrying their message to and through our eardrums. Do we not have a fairly common saying in our culture about "our calling", often as regards "fulfilling our calling" or "practicing our calling" or the like? Do we not talk to God each time we pray?

But talking is not quite the same as communicating. Good communication requires that we talk and then listen for a response. When we pray, do we really expect an answer? We should, but we must listen for God's reply. We should remain still and silent so we can sense God's voice, His call. When God speaks to us, He waits for our response, for our answer.

God may not shout our names out loud in the middle of the night (although He certainly might). He may simply whisper to us in the rustle of leaves, the soft murmur of a baby, the constant beat of waves upon the shore. Whenever the time, whatever the purpose, whichever the means, our God and Master will call out to us. Will we ignore His pleadings for our attention, or will we humbly respond as Eli instructed Samuel?

Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.

Amen.

Give Unto the Lord

"Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength."

-- Psalm 29:1 (NKJV)

David first came onto the Biblical scene as a young lad who looked after the family's sheep. God looked into his heart and commanded Samuel to anoint him as a chosen of God. Shortly afterwards, God used David and the skill with a sling he learned while watching over the sheep to slay the giant Goliath and free the Israelites from a great threat. David grew, learned many things, increased in power and influence, strayed from the Lord's side, eventually found his way back to God, and eventually became the greatest king of the descendants of Abraham and a direct ancestor of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Warrior, poet, king. When he penned this chapter in his book of Psalms, none were more mighty than he.

Perhaps it was through his trials and travails, because of his straying from God before realizing his great mistake and returning to bow at our Father's feet, that he came to understand that even the mightiest man is still just that: a man. No matter what he could accomplish, no matter how many armies he could defeat, no matter how eloquent the words he could pass down for the ages, he could never come close to matching the power of God, and he knew this with certainty. He had fallen and only God's wonderful grace and mercy had picked him up and allowed him to stand once again.

David is accustomed to having his commands obeyed without question, but here you can almost hear him beseeching us to listen to his words, to follow his advice. He pleads with us to give to God all glory.

But who does David address this command, this plea? He says it clearly: "O you mighty ones". The meek, the humble, those who are used to having little voice in the matters of the world tend to already heed this call. They understand that God is the greatest power and they readily bow down to Him. They know how good and gracious He is, for without His mercy they would perish. But the mighty ones, the powerful rulers of the earth, too often forget just where their power originates. They credit themselves and their own efforts with their successes. They feel that the might of their arms give them the right of rule. Who should they bow before? No one! David cautions them to think otherwise. His words shout, "Look at me, the mightiest king you have ever known! Yet even I sing praises to our Lord on high. Even I bow before God."

David also tells us to give not only all glory to God, but our strength as well. Again, he directs this primarily to the mighty ones, for the weak of his day, and ours as well, have little strength to share. But the mighty have much strength that they can bring to bear in any given situation. David admonishes them to use that strength in service to our Lord. Rather than use their might in gaining dominion over men, they should turn that power they wield into service to God.

What great things could be accomplished today if the mighty were simply to follow David's command? What if the political and economic rulers all gave God the glory and used their strengths to serve Him? It is easy for us to sit back and think these powerful and rich men should do more. But today, and especially in the free world, many of us have more power and wealth than our counterparts in David's time could have even imagined. How do we use our influence, where do we pour our dollars, on what do we exert our efforts, how do we share our talents?

David assures us that even if we fail to give God what is due Him, he will not fail us. He finishes this Psalm with a promise: "The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." (Psalm 29:11) God is ever faithful to us no matter what we do, because His love for us is deep and abiding.

To God be all glory and all strength. Amen.

According to Your Faith

[The following was delivered at St. James Reformed Church, Mt. Pleasant, NC, on Sunday, April 19, 2009.]

So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" — then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

-- Matthew 9:1-8, 18-31, 35-38 [NKJV]

The dictionary defines "faith" as confidence or trust in a person or thing, such as faith in another person's ability; belief that is not based on proof; belief in anything; an obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, or engagement and the observance of such an obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, or allegiance; the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved. The Bible also has a definition of faith. In the eleventh chapter of his letter to the Hebrews, verses one through three, Paul wrote, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (This last verse is a remarkable sentence. God did not scoop up a double handful of something and use it to bring all of existence into being. No, He simply spoke the word, and the heavens and the earth were created. So everything that is, all that we see, had its origins as a word from God.) In this chapter, Paul was writing a commentary on an even older message, one delivered by Habakkuk in his Chapter 2, verse 4: "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." "The just shall live by his faith." It is believed that this short verse lit a fire in the heart of Martin Luther, leading to the great Protestant Reformation. Paul further expanded and amplified it in the books of Romans, which looks at "the just", or the justified, in Ephesians, which takes up "shall live", and here in Hebrews, where Paul addresses the last two words, "by faith".

But just what do we mean by "faith"? I remember from the hippie days of the '60s and '70s, people would say "Keep the faith, man." And in the '80s, one of the slogans in vogue during the United States hockey team's improbable run to an Olympic gold medal was "You gotta have faith." But neither case had any religious overtones. One referred to the fact that the war in Vietnam could be brought to an end and the other gave us hope in a group of men achieving a previously unattainable goal. But I would prefer to talk about that last dictionary definition, and the one Paul gives us in his letter. I want to talk about our faith in God.

I think faith can sometimes be a confusing subject. We hear people say "if I only had enough faith" as they try to explain what they could do if only their faith were stronger. But faith does not come from anything within itself. It isn't some thing that can be amassed and added on to if needed. You can't just run out to the corner store and buy some extra faith if your stock suddenly runs low. As it turns out, that's OK, because the quantity of faith one has is not nearly as important as the quality of faith. Matthew and Luke both recorded an exchange Jesus had with some disciples who were unable to call a demon from a young boy. The father had brought the boy to the disciples saying that he had seizures and often fell into the fire or the water. The father feared for his son's life. But the disciples were unable to help. In Chapter 17, verse 20, Matthew records how Jesus responded when they asked why could they not draw out the demon: "So Jesus said to them, 'Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.'" We know from another parable Jesus used just how small a mustard seed is: barely visible. Could faith that small really cause a mountain to move?

Yes, because our strength of faith comes from the very object in which we place it. What you put your faith in makes all the difference in the world. What if we were in a burning building and I pulled out a spool of thread and started tying it around your waist while saying "I'll lower you to safety."? How much faith do you think you would put in that length of thread? Now what if I pulled out a good long length of one-inch diameter rope, and tied that around you? Would you have a little more faith in my being able to lower you safely to the ground? Would you have more faith in the thread being able to support your weight, or the rope?

Since faith is tied directly to belief, we need to frequently ask ourselves what do we believe in. We believe the rope is stronger than the thread, so we put our faith in it. We believe the churchgoing politician so we put our faith in them and give them our vote. We believe our car is safe and sound so we have faith in it to carry ourselves and our loved ones down the highway. In some cases, we have enough faith in some thing or some one to stake our lives on it. But would we stake our eternal lives on any of these, on any material object or any human being or other creature? Anything man makes is subject to fail. The strongest rope can suddenly snap. The best made and maintained car can still malfunction. Our household pet can turn on us and bite us given the right circumstances. Man himself is fallible. We were not created that way. We became flawed of our own will and action. You could say that Adam and Eve did not believe entirely in God when He told them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would surely die. We humans can and do fail. How many times have you put your faith and trust in someone, only to have them let you down, hurt you, betray your trust?

So we are often quite willing to put our faith, our very lives and the lives of the ones we love most, into something or someone that in all probability may fail us. Sure, we may have no other choice. And we might stack the odds in our favor as much as possible, like keeping good tires on the car all the time. But we are still putting some level of faith into something that can and will fail us given the correct set of conditions. How strong can such a faith truly be?

That leaves but one place where we should place our faith without hesitation and without fear of betrayal: in God. If we freely and fully put our faith in God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, then our faith will be as large and strong and ample as it could possibly be, for God will not fail us. He never has and never will. He has always kept His every promise. The Bible is full of examples and every time, every single time, God has kept His promise to us, His children. Think about it: He looked down and said "I'm going to clean up this mess but I'm not going to destroy everything", so He told Noah to build a boat. Sure enough, the world was flooded, His creation was cleaned but not destroyed. A promise made, a promise kept. He told Moses "Go back and tell that king in Egypt to let My children go. Don't worry... I'll give you the words to say and some tricks to back it all up", and that He indeed did, including the staff that could turn into a snake and back into a staff again. A promise made, a promise kept. He told the Israelites they had better turn back to Him or there would be a great price to pay. They didn't, and there was. He brought down the armies of Assyria and Babylon to defeat the Jews and carry them off into slavery, dispersing some of the tribes forever. God has also kept His word on the good stuff as well as the warnings. He said He would give us a great gift, the ultimate sacrifice, so that we could believe in Him and have eternal life with Him. And He gave us Jesus Christ. A promise made, a promise kept.

Everywhere you look in the Bible, God has kept His promises to us. In 1 John 1:9, John tells us that God is faithful and just. Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 9 speaks of "the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments". In chapter 9 verse 33, Nehemiah admits that God is "just in all that has befallen us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly." The beautiful Psalms nearly overflow with praises and songs to God's faithfulness. In First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 9, Paul assures us "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." And again in Second Thesalonians chapter 3 verse 3: "But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." Over and over, again and again, in verse after verse, in Old Testament and New, we are assured of God's faithfulness to us more times than we can number.

In an unattributed quote, Ray Stedman, one of the foremost pastors and biblical expositors of the twentieth century, once said: "Even the weakest believer holds in his hands all that the mightiest saint ever possessed." He was talking about faith, and the faithfulness of God. It gets back to that mustard seed Jesus told us about. The only thing that really matters is what you put your faith in. If you put your faith in God, you can do anything.

And if we want examples from outside the Bible, all we need do is look around us today. Spring marks rebirth of the earth. Flowers blossom, leaves pop out on tree limbs, birds sing, and the world awakens from its winter nap. Just as Christ was resurrected from the grave, the earth is resurrected from the cold of winter and given new life. Summer finds us toiling to coax as much production out of the ground as possible, just in time for the grand harvest in fall before the winter rest. And then the cycle repeats with rebirth in spring. Since God willed it, season has followed season and forever will until He comes again for one final, eternal spring. Day follows night. Birth follows death. The grand cycle of the universe follows God's will as testimony to His faithfulness.

I am reminded of the hymn:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

But what does God's faithfulness to us mean? It means God has faith in us. He knows we are flawed, but He knows when we are really trying hard not to be. He has faith that we will do the right thing, even when we let him down time after time after time. He has faith in us because we are His children. Just as any parent loves and has faith in their child, God's undying and unconditional love for us translates into an unshakable faith in us.

In Luke chapter 18, verses 7 and 8, Jesus offers yet one more assurance of our Savior's faithfulness, then asks a frightening question. "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

We have a Father who loves us, unconditionally and without hesitation. He always has been faithful to us and always will be. He has always kept His promises and provided for all our needs. There is no more powerful force in all of existence than He, nor will there ever be. Place your faith in God, and He will never fail you.

Have faith.

Amen.

Where Is Your Heart?

[The following was delivered at New Gilead Reformed Church, Concord, NC, on Sunday, August 3, 2008.]

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
-- Mark 16:9-20 [NKJV]

The scriptures I just read (from Leviticus 20:22-26, 2 Corinthians 6, and Mark 16:9-20 above) may seem contradictory. In Leviticus we are told to stay separated from the people of the land, or the world, and to distinguish between clean and unclean things. In Second Corinthians, Paul cautions us to not be "yoked together" with unbelievers. But then in Mark, we hear Jesus instruct us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Second Corinthians Chapter 6 even seems to contradict itself - be ministers of God but stay away from unbelievers, from lawlessness, from darkness.

The last time I was here, I asked the question, "Why are you here?" Today I would like for us to consider the question "Where is your heart"? But before we provide possible answers to that and to the seeming contradictions in our scripture lessons, let's look more closely at this idea of separation, separation from the world our text mentions and see what else the Bible might say about it.

Besides what Paul wrote in Second Corinthians Chapter 6 about being separate from unbelievers, John, in his first epistle, chapter 2, furthers this view and enhances it some:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." -- 1 John 2:15-17

James, in Chapter 4, pretty much draws up sides:

"Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously.' But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." -- James 4:1-10

That is a pretty powerful statement: "Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Make no mistake: the world is a very dangerous place. I don't mean physically. We all know the world out there presents many dangers to our health and our bodies. Just watch the evening news. No, I mean that our very souls are in danger of falling prey to the temptations of the world. Paul lost a follower and a friend to temptation and the lures of the world. In his second letter to Timothy, he implores his brother:

"Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica — Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia." -- 2 Timothy 4:9-10

We read all this and take it to heart and we think one way to stay separate from the world, from those who might ifmperil or tempt us, is to stay away from worldly things. We make lists of things to avoid. Dancing is not allowed, no card playing, no wearing make-up... These seem a little silly to us today, but not that long ago folks held these as dear and sacred. Some still do. We make these lists and call them Christian standards. After a while, we begin to accept our list and the items on it as truths, we pass them on to our children. And we can easily mistake our prejudices for our convictions. We can think that because we hate something, or some ones, that they must be worldly so we put them on our list. Going back to our "no dancing" example, if we really don't like someone and think them worldly, and that person really loves dancing, then we might begin to consider dancing a worldly act since this worldly person dances all the time. And then, by extension, if dancing is evil, then everyone who dances is worldly and should be avoided, even the little ballerina spinning around on the music box I want to give my daughter. But none of this is from God, no matter how we might come by it. The only list of things to do and not do in the Bible, from God's holy word, is the Ten Commandments.

If all we've learned or been taught, if the things on our list, are not in line with the principles clearly given in the Bible, then we'd better revise our standards, edit our lists, and get back in line with the Bible. We need to get an attitude adjustment. There are indeed standards we should follow, but the method we use to determine those standards must be in accordance with God's word.

Now one problem with this method of separating ourselves from people and activities and things that we consider "worldly" is that we can tend to either consciously or unconsciously try to avoid temptation by avoiding other people. We withdraw a little, build our own little worlds of like-minded believers. The ultimate example of where this can lead is a monastery. We go into a remote region and build an enclave with a wall around and a fortress-like structure at its center, and we fill it with people who believe what we believe and do what we do and think what we think and discourage any others from entering. We even tend to separate from other believers seemingly by degrees or levels of worldliness. I know some Baptists who will not associate with Methodists, and Episcopalians from one part of the world shun Episcopalians from another part of the world.

Sadly, rather than teach our youth how to confront and overcome evil, we show them how to avoid it, how to try to hide from it. But how can we teach them to "fight the good fight" when we don't know how ourselves, when we've never been taught?

This separation, this isolation leads to a growing sense of boredom and frustration with life, especially for younger folk. We avoid trouble, we hide from danger, we shun the worldly, we ignore our brothers and sisters in prison, we retreat. There's no challenge, no peril, nothing to keep the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing for the Lord. Maybe this is why some young Christians seem so lifeless in "traditional" worship services. Maybe this is why people keep drifting away from the church year after year. Maybe they seek out the world for stimulation, wanting to experience its temptations just so they can feel alive.

Another problem with this form of separation is that the more we try to isolate ourselves from the worldly, the more the world creeps in to our lives. We feel safe, here on our island surrounded by our like-minded friends. We follow our lists and know we are doing the right thing. We let our guard down. And the world just sneaks right in, slipping through thousands of cracks in our armor.

For the truth is, worldliness is not a matter of things.

Let me illustrate by example. If you wear a really pretty dress or fine suit to church so other people can see you and admire you and think how nice you look, that's worldly. On the other hand, if you wear a frumpy dress or a threadbare suit so everyone can see how lowly and humble you are, well, that's worldly too. If you buy a big fancy car so everyone will know how well you are doing and important you are, that's worldly. But if you drive an old heap so people will see your humility, that's still worldly. If you are hurt when people fail to notice you, then that is worldly.

For worldliness is all about what is in your heart. Worldliness is all about your attitude. Everything is worldly if your attitude is worldly. And the Lord knows what is in your heart.

We can't just make lists and be safe, but there certainly are things we should and should not do; not because someone else thinks we should or should not do them; not because the church is watching; not for some other reason that originates from outside ourselves: that is worldly. We do or don't do some thing because we know deep down inside that God would want us to do or not to do that thing. What does that sound like - a conscience? Doesn't that sound like the Holy Spirit living within us telling us what we should or should not do?

Reread a bit of our text from First John again. "All that is in the world... is not of the Father". If we exclude God from our considerations of what to do or not do, if we make decisions without turning to God for counsel, then that is worldly thinking, no matter what we do. Always seek our Father's guidance.

Another result of this Christian isolation is a lessening or even outright loss of the sense of sacrifice for our Lord. When we withdraw to our secure little island, safe from all temptation, we can become complacent at best, or smug and insensitive and uncaring at worst. We avidly support missionaries with our dollars as they work in far off lands while ignoring or even shunning someone right next door who might be struggling in spiritual despair. We can lose our will to step outside our own door for fear of facing the devil.

The Lord didn't say "send your people" or "spread your money into the world". In my message scripture from Mark, we heard Jesus say, "Go into all the world and spread the Gospel". The King James Versions keeps in the implied "you" and commands, "Go ye into the world".

There are two ways to look at this phrase, go into the world. First, in order to spread the Gospel, we must tell it to people who have not heard it before or have forgotten it or who have been turned deaf by Satan, to unbelievers, to the worldly. But isn't this a contradiction to Leviticus and Second Corinthians? No, not if we don't become worldly. Remember: it's all in the attitude, it's all about what is in your heart. We cannot spread the Good News throughout the world while staying isolated from the world. We have to leave our island. But if we keep our hearts clean and give full consideration to the Father in all things, we will not become of the world, we will not be worldly.

The second view of going into the world is so that we can learn more about the worldly, to build sympathy for them, to stir us more in our God-given desire to help lead them to Christ. We can learn about the ways of the world, the attitudes of the world, so we can help the wretched, lost souls - those across the world and those right down the street. This is part of our personal responsibilities as Christians: witnessing to others. We should try to imitate Jesus. He gave everything to save us. But we sometimes find it tough to give up an afternoon of golf or a night of television to share God's wonderful grace, or to open our homes for Bible studies or prayer meetings.

Have we already become deaf to the cries around us, numb to all the hands reaching out to us for help from all sides? We are living in the middle of a sea of people who are dying for what we have, unknowingly searching for what we've found or been shown; people who are putting bullets through their heads, jumping of buildings, overdosing on alcohol and drugs... just to end the misery that their lives have become, because they don't have Christ in their lives.

Do we sit on our island, or go into the world?

Now our danger lies in forgetting what we are and our purpose in all this, in losing sight of God and becoming worldly. For if we become worldly ourselves, if we become like the world, then we lose all our power to influence the world. And that is where we need to impose separation. We need to be in the world, but separate ourselves from the attitude of the world. We must keep our clean attitude, focused on God.

Remember the story of Lot? We read of him in Genesis chapters 13, 14, 19 (mostly). God instructed Abraham to take up his household and head out; God would tell him where to go later. Lot, Abraham's nephew, went with him. Eventually, they parted ways and Lot took his household into the land of Sodom. Now in those days this was a green and lush land, a veritable Eden, even though many reports came out of there of evil men and evil activities. So Lot settle in Sodom and tried to do good there. He tried to help God and lead the people back to Him. But he did so by becoming like the people their, by adopting their attitudes, by becoming like their world. And in the end the whole area was destroyed, wiped clean, and Lot was barely able to escape with his life and his daughters, losing even his wife as they fled. This is a very clear warning that we must keep separate from the attitude of the world, and not become of it or like it.

To do the work Jesus commissioned us to do, we must go into the world, make worldly friends, invite them into our homes and visit with them in theirs so that slowly, by example and word and deed, we might bear influence upon them and their thinking and their attitude and their heart, and help them find Jesus. Just remember not to think like the world, for our attitude, our thoughts are different. We have the greatest news in the universe and we just can't wait to share it! That is what our attitude should be.

But isn't all this dangerous, going so deeply into the world where it can reach out and tempt us? Sure. Sure it is, but that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it thrilling, gripping, vital, challenging, daring... and that can provide tons of motivation to folks who've become bored with island living. In a way, God wants us to face problems so we can learn how to overcome them. How else can we grow? How else can we help others overcome their problems?

So it's our job as Christians to be in the world, but not of it; to identify and sympathize with its suffering, but not with its attitude; to be Christ's representative and help bring His influence to bear on the world's life, but not be corrupted by its ways.

And that brings me back to my question - Where is your heart? Is it in the world? The Bible is correct and true when it says this world is really unimportant and will pass away. If we believe that, truly believe it, then living a Christian life should be the easiest thing in the world, if nothing else matters. But if the world's things really do matter to us -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, as John put it -- then being a Christian is going to be tough.

As Christians, we know the Truth. We look to things unseen rather than seen, for we know that things seen are here only today and are quickly passing away, but those things unseen are eternal.

Keep your heart's desires away from the world. Keep your heart on things unseen. Keep your heart in heaven.

Amen.

Comes the Harvest

[The following was delivered at St. James Reformed Church, Mt. Pleasant, NC, on Sunday, July 27, 2008.]

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord." Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

-- Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 [NKJV]

Do you kind of get the idea that Jesus thought it important that we understand heaven? Let's take a moment to look back over the symbolic descriptions Matthew saved for us:

• A mustard seed, something so tiny and small and insignificant seeming, but when planted will grow into a tree that provides shelter and protection.
• A small portion of yeast mixed into a much larger measure of dough will react and grow and cause the whole thing to rise, with delicious bread as the end result.
• A treasure well worth giving up everything you own, and doing so with joy, in order to possess it.
• That one exquisite pearl of greatest value, again worth giving up all you have for it.
• All kinds of people gathered together: Jews and Gentiles, men and women, all races, even good and bad.
• But at the end of time, the angels will separate the bad from the good and the bad will be tossed into the fiery furnace while the good remain in heaven.
• Finally, those who know about heaven and share what they know give a great treasure to others in this knowledge, both to people who already understand about heaven and to those who have never heard Christ's words.

And Jesus asks, do you understand these things? It is very important that we do.

The rewards of heaven are so vast and great they are worth any cost. There will be judgment at the end. Discipleship - following Christ - carries a cost. Those who discover or are taught the truth of the kingdom of heaven willingly forsake all to become a disciple. Through Matthew, by the word of Jesus, the mysteries of heaven are now revealed.

It shouldn't seem too unusual to talk about the upcoming fall harvest in the middle of the summer. The seeds have been planted. The growing crops are cultivated and weeded, so there is still work to do. And Pastor John began a miniseries here with messages on planting seeds and pulling weeds. So I thought I would continue the trend and end the series in this vein, for soon comes the harvest, the time when we can reap the rewards of all our hard work.

Maybe we should first consider where are our rewards. Are they in this life, here on earth? A new car, a big house, adoring fans, celebrity status... Are these some of our rewards? There are many who seem to think so. Some even interpret God's promise to give plentifully to us to mean He will see to it that earthly treasures are bestowed upon us. Maybe He does. Maybe in some cases God does provide us with something we don't really need and didn't really earn, just as a way of saying "Thanks". But David, in his Psalm 17, verses 13 and 14, asks God to strike down those wicked men, men of the world who have their portion in this life, who seek their reward in this life, who are more concerned with what this world has to offer than what God promises us. I believe that David understood what Jesus would say, that our greatest treasure awaits us in heaven.

One way to consider harvesting what was sown can be found in Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 10 and 11. "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God scatters His word like seeds and the harvest from them at the end of time will not be empty but will be great, for His harvest will be us, those who believe in and follow His Son. We are also the tools God uses in His earthly garden to scatter His seeds, to sow His words. Jesus will handle the harvest and His angels will take care of any bad crops.

And that brings us to the more obvious idea of harvest in the context of Christian life. This is how Matthew related the message of Jesus when the angels harvest all mankind and separate the good from the wicked. Our reward for bearing the cost of discipleship will be to spend eternity in the loving, glorious presence of God. The evil ones will not have it quite so good. John reinforces Matthew's telling of this when he shares with us what God revealed about the end times. In Revelation, chapter 14, verses 14 through 20, he describes Jesus, the Son of Man, with a sharp sickle in His hand. One by one angels cry to Him to "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Another angel carries a sickle also, and thrusts it into the earth gathering the wicked, the "vine of the earth", and throws them into "the great winepress of the wrath of God".

And long before Jesus walked among us, His ancestor David spoke of this final harvest. In his 96th Psalm, verses 10 through 13, he instructs: "Say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.' Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all its fullness; let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth."

Comes the harvest, which crop will you be? Do you understand the things of heaven Jesus described? The cost of discipleship is high, but the reward is unimaginably great. Comes the harvest, we will spend eternity with our Lord.

Amen.

Why Are You Here Today?

[The following was delivered at New Gilead Reformed Church in Concord, NC, on July 6, 2008.]

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the King above all gods. In His hands are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His land.

-- Psalm 95: 1-7

Thus says the Lord: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist," Says the Lord. "But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word."

-- Isaiah 66: 1-2

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

-- Ephesians 2: 19-22

In the early days of the church, Christians suffered persecution and took great risks to gather together to meet and worship Christ. The Apostle Paul is a good example of what befell early followers of The Way -- tortured, beaten, imprisoned, executed. Ten of the original twelve Disciples were put to death for their belief in Christ. (Judas committed suicide and John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos.) We could certainly understand if these early Christians had decided to skip a worship service every now and then. After all, they could be dragged off to prison if caught praising Christ. But they kept their faith and they kept their worship alive because they loved the Lord and they loved the church.

Why are you here today? There can be many answers to that question, but before we look at them let me take a moment to tell you why I am here, and in so doing tell you a little about who I am.

I am here because Brother Ned Weavil asked if I would come. Of course, there's a little more to it that that. One reason I am here is that I need opportunities to address congregations just like yours. While perhaps not your typical student, I am currently in seminary studying to do, in part, what I am doing here right now. There is certainly much more to being a minister than standing in the pulpit each Sunday morning delivering God's word and exhorting the masses, but this may well be the most nerve wracking, at least for me. Fortunately, I trust in God to put the message He wants you to hear into my head and my heart, and to speak His words through my mouth. So that is one reason I am here: in a nutshell, because I need the practice.

But I am also here because I believe you and I walk a common ground. I can relate to where you are as a congregation because I have been there. My understanding is that you have been in a pastoral search for a little over three years now, and just recently parted from the United Church of Christ. My church, St. James Reformed Church in Mt. Pleasant, spent over three years in an introspective study and a following search for the minister to lead us. During that period we looked closely at ourselves, led by a gentleman trained specifically for that task, Rev. Bill Davis. We dug into our collective hearts and determined what we wanted and needed from our church, where we wanted it to go. And after that prolonged study and search, we issued a call to Rev. John Bigelow, who God placed along our path and who has ministered to our needs these seven years since. As a congregation, we left the UCC about two years ago.

During that period we learned a few remarkable things, chief among them that we could manage the affairs of our church quite well on our own. While we needed a shepherd, a pastor in the Biblical sense, we did not need someone to lead us, to do things for us. We could lead ourselves, we could control our church's destiny. From what I know of you and this church, you either knew this all along or have discovered it for yourselves. You are a strong, healthy church, as evidenced by folks taking charge when something needs doing, seeing to it that jobs get done, and by simply being here each and every Sunday keeping the doors open. And I can relate to the level of effort and dedication involved in all this because I served on both the study steering committee and the search committee during our long period without a pastor.

Those are a few reasons why I'm here. Why are you here? Probably not just to hear me. Maybe you're here because your spouse (or mother or father) kept fussing at you to "Get out of bed, we're going to church!" this morning. Or maybe you're here because there is no ball game this afternoon that you need to leave early for so as to get a good seat. Or maybe the fish aren't biting right now because it's been so hot lately. Maybe you're here because you know that people expect you to be here -- that's what good Christians do, go to church on Sundays, and you're a good Christian. Now I'm not saying someone is not a good church member or Christian if they're not here today. There are many legitimate reasons for not being in church on Sundays. I'm not in my church this morning. I'm just giving a few answers some folk might give for being here, whether out loud or in their hearts.

And God is looking into our hearts to see the motives that drive our actions. It isn't so much what we do as why we do it. Do we do this thing because we have to, or because we want to? For instance, do we go to church because we have to, because people expect us to, or because we want to go, because we love God? Does love provide our motivation, or does fear? Do we love God, or fear Him? To me, it is far easier to sing praises out of love, than out of fear. God loves us, so much so that he gave us His Son. How much do we love Him?

Now getting back to those possible reasons I listed for why you might be here today, I don't really believe any of those to be true for anyone in this congregation, simply because of what I said earlier. If you did not have the true desire within you to keep this church open and functioning, the doors would be locked and this beautiful sanctuary would be quiet and still. You realize you have to be here for as many service events as humanly possible, and you have to pitch in and help accomplish as many jobs as you can, for your church to survive. So you're here today because you love God, and because you love your church and care about it and its future.

And that begs the question, what is the church? I'm sure this will come as no great surprise to you, but this glorious building is not the church. Some people call this the House of God, but this structure could no more house God than a water glass could contain the ocean. No, the building merely provides shelter from the elements for the church. I think Paul said it best, in his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 3, verses 16 and 17: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." There you have it: you are the church. You, me, your brothers and sisters sitting beside you and those not with us today, we are the church, we are the body of Jesus Christ left on earth to carry out His great commission.

Later, in Chapter 12 of the same letter, verses 4 through 7, Paul adds, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." In those few short lines Paul lets us know that (1) it is the same God who works everything in all of us, (2) we are to use however God chooses to make Himself known in us to the betterment of all of us, (3) the many individual members, you and me and everyone else, are just parts of the one body of Christ even while being individuals, (4) Gentiles as well as Jews are included in the body of Christ, and (5) again, unequivocally, we make up the body of Christ.

Think about that for just a second... God, the Creator of all, the infinite God over the finite universe, whose being is without limits or boundaries, who could not be contained in a million million buildings like this one... God chooses to live within us, within our hearts, because we are the body of Christ. We are the church. We are the House of God. Go back and read today's scripture from Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." Of course, our hearts cannot completely contain God either, for He fills us to overflowing and spills out from us to fill others! Through our actions and interactions with other people, God can fill them with His Spirit.

Do you remember the old movie, "Caddyshack"? Bill Murray played a dubious golf pro trying to train a young man enough about the game to win a contest. He wants the young man to visualize the ball leaving the club's head, lofting through the air, and rolling into the hole. He closes his eyes and holds out his hand and instructs the young man, "Be the ball. Be the ball...".

Be the church. Paul tells us we already are, we just need to understand and believe it. Be the church. We are encouraged to spend our time together with other Christians, to congregate with other believers as much as possible. This helps us keep our heads and our hearts in the right place. Be the church. Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? The dictionary defines a disciple as a follower, a student, someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another. Be the church.

If we are the church, if we are the temple of God, then church is never over as long as we take breath. When we leave this building today, church is still in session. As you go about your normal daily business during the week, try to remember that you are in church as you deal with other folks. They are sitting in the pew right beside you. God is preaching the sermon. The choir is in excellent voice. Bright smiling faces all around. Visualize that scene with everyone you come in contact, and you cannot help but act in a manner pleasing to Jesus our Savior.

Be the church.
Amen.

The Way

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

-- John 14:6 (NKJV)

In chapter fourteen of his Gospel, the Apostle John continues his recounting of the last meal Jesus shares with His disciples before His crucifixion. Up to this point during what we call the Last Supper, through John's thirteenth chapter, Jesus has gathered His beloved followers together, washed their feet, identified Judas Iscariot as His betrayer, given His new commandment, that we love one another as we love ourselves, and predicted Peter's upcoming denial of Him.

Now as John continues, Jesus reassures His disciples that they know where He is going soon, and, of greater import to this section, they know the way to where He is going. Thomas questions this, saying that they do not know where Jesus is going so how could they possibly know the way. And here Jesus makes it very clear, to Thomas and those assembled that day so long ago, and to us today. Here He does not relate a parable as He so often does when trying to get across a complex point. Here He states exactly what we and they and all His followers need to be assured of, need to understand clearly and without question or doubt. Jesus Himself is the way.

Jesus lets His disciples know that He is soon to return to His Father, to God. He assures them that He is going ahead to prepare a place for them in His Father's many-mansioned house, and if He is doing that for them then surely He will return and take them back with Him. But to go with Him they must know the way, and that way is Jesus.

The message is clear for us today as well: If we wish to live eternity with our heavenly Father, we must follow Jesus, for He is the way, He is the correct and only path that leads to the Father. He is the truth of all of existence, and in Him we can trust, in His word we can believe. And He is the life, for only through Him can we find eternal life. But make no mistake: no one -- NO ONE can come before God, our Father in heaven, except that they go through Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Savior!

So many times the Gospel writers included the words of Jesus that indicate what we need to do to gain eternal life. And Jesus tried teaching that lesson in so many ways. John 3:16 is a great example: whoever believes in the Son of God will not perish but have everlasting life. But here, in chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus, through the hand of John His beloved, tells us in no uncertain terms that through Him and only through Him may we reach that goal. He is the way. His word is the truth. His death, and defeat of death, leads to our life. And only through Him will we live that life for ever and ever.

Jesus is the way. Amen.

Partake of Christ's Sufferings

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

-- 1 Peter 4:12-13

I have many times heard asked, "How can a loving God allow so much pain and suffering in this world?", or some variation thereof. In fact, a dear friend, strong in her faith, admitted her own doubts as to how a loving Father could stand by while His children suffered so much. She knew that parents do everything they can to shield their children from hurt and pain. Why cannot God, Who can do literally anything, not shield His believers, His children from all suffering?

I thought on this for a very long while before I came up with an answer that satisfied us both. Granted, parents do try to protect their children from unavoidable harm, and try their best to keep their children innocent for as long as they can. But do not we, even as the most loving and doting parents, teach our children how to ride a bicycle, remove the training wheels or other intermediary aids, and give them that first shove to independence on two wheels? And do we not do this knowing full well that our child will at some point fall and scrape a knee or elbow? Do we not do this with the full knowledge that by this very action our child will be hurt, to some extent or another? By this simple act, we knowingly send our children on a path that will result in pain and suffering. But we also know that sometimes, this is the only way to learn. We know if we do not give the child a chance to fall, they will never try to stand.

The Apostle Peter, in his first epistle "to the pilgrims of the Dispersion", adds much to this thought when he notes that we should not think it strange or out of the ordinary that we may suffer some affliction, some trial. The underlying implication is that everyone will face trials. Instead, he encourages us to rejoice in the face of these hard times, because we are being allowed to share in the sufferings that our Christ and Risen Savior endured! We should rejoice as we partake of Christ's sufferings. There are two interesting points about that simple sentence we should examine more closely.

First, take note that Peter said "Christ's sufferings". He used the plural, more than one instance of suffering, more than one pain, more than one trial. We need to remember as we read Peter's words that he personally knew Jesus, walked the dusty roads with Him, saw how badly He suffered at the hands of His persecutors, and knew even of the suffering Christ must have felt at Peter's own denial of Him. Our Lord suffered many times, and to a horrendously great extent. It has been said that no more cruel a method of putting a man to death has been created by the minds of humankind than crucifixion. Yet our Lord Christ not only suffered this horrible death, but He was beaten, humiliated, and abused in every conceivable manner before finally being nailed to the cross to die. Sufferings, indeed. If the Son of God experienced sufferings, plural, why should we expect to not also bear the pain of multiple sufferings?

And again Peter's choice of words provides further insight into his message. Generally, when the phrase "partake of" is used, it carries along with it the idea of pleasure or enjoyment, even relish. For instance, while one may simply eat a meal, taking in the nourishment our bodies need, our minds add no embellishment to the words and we imagine only the near mechanical action of fork to mouth. On the other hand, when we partake of a meal, we now seem to be participating in an event, enjoying a social gathering with others who are likewise enjoying themselves. Our mind's eye can picture us savoring each morsel, chatting amiably between bites with our hosts and other guests. This is how I believe Peter meant the words, that we should not only go through the act of suffering our afflictions, but that we should almost relish each trial because in it we are in some small way sharing in the suffering our Lord Jesus experienced during His walk on earth as a man. This suffering gives us a common ground to walk upon with the Son of Man. We cannot literally carry the cross for Christ, but in our suffering we can know some small measure of what He suffered for our sake.

Starting the fourth passage of this letter, Peter said: "Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1-2) This to me is a very interesting passage from which I myself gain two messages. First, I believe Peter is telling us that we can expect to suffer. Suffering is a foregone conclusion. We will face afflictions and trials, if for no other reason than because Christ Himself suffered while in the flesh. And if the Son of God suffered we can expect to do no less ourselves. So this part of the message, to me, confirms the discussion above.

But then the second part of these two verses, beginning with "for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin", seems to convey a deeper meaning, going beyond the fact of suffering to perhaps the cause of suffering. Throughout the New Testament we are cautioned that Satan has been given rule over this world of man for a time, so that he might tempt as many souls as he can from God's loving embrace. God allows this because He wants us to truly love Him, and not what He might be able to give us during our mortal lives. So Satan takes every opportunity to tempt us while in the flesh, offering all manner of physical pleasures and riches. He wants nothing more than for us to sin, and thus to draw us further and further from God until we are lost. If we, in our love for God, resist Satan's temptations, he will increase the pressure. At some point, he will even cause us great pain, with the implied promise that the pain will cease if we just accept him as our lord and turn away from God. I believe Peter is trying to tell us that if we are suffering, it is a sign that we are not sinning but are doing the will of God. If we are doing that which is acceptable in God's sight, we are certainly not doing what Satan wants, so he causes us to suffer. Whether all suffering is caused by Satan or because we are trying our best not to sin, I cannot say. But I do believe Peter is trying to reassure us that our suffering may indeed indicate we are doing the will of God.

One final note, and a personal one at that, is how often Peter begins a discourse using the endearment "Beloved". Remember how the Gospel writers generally described Peter? He was a fisherman, a strong man, what we might call a man's man. His face was surely weathered by many hours upon the sea, facing the wind and sea spray. I see hands rough and calloused from wooden oars and coarse nets, shoulders and chest broadened and strengthened from constantly dragging heavy nets filled with the catch. I watch as this brawny man pulls a sword and strikes at the servant of one who comes to take his Lord and Master away. I hear his frightened yet angry denials of his Christ, three times as foretold. But here is this strong man, this man of action and few words, speaking so softly to his brothers and sisters in far off lands. He immediately lets them know just how much he cherishes them by calling them "Beloved". And as I read his words, in my heart he speaks directly to me and I know I am also his beloved. And by extension, as his words were inspired by Jesus and by God, I know I am beloved of Christ as well.

Rejoice as you partake of our Christ's sufferings. Amen.

Giving Up

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

-- Matthew 16:21 (NIV)

Jesus knew exactly what the future held for Him. He was keenly aware of what was expected of Him. Each step of His journey was closely planned out, every move carefully choreographed, every action precisely orchestrated for His arrival at the cross in time for the salvation of mankind.

But His followers just could not quite grasp this concept. All the ancient prophesy, which He had filled up to this point, clearly depicted Jesus as the Messiah, the One who would deliver the people of Israel from slavery, save them from their enemies, defeat any who stood before them. The people expected a warrior king, not this humble servant. And certainly not One destined to die at the hands of their own kind without so much as lifting a finger in defense.

So Jesus took the time to carefully explain what the immediate future held for Him and for them. He repeated the lesson often, and still they did not truly grasp what He was saying, not until they witnessed the risen Lord in all His glory.

We enter into the sacred Christian season celebrating the death and resurrection of our Christ by observing Lent, the time of sacrifice. As Matthew describes in the verse above, Jesus knew he was to die at the hands of the very children God so loved. God made the greatest of sacrifices when He placed His only Son upon the altar of man. Jesus gave up His life, sacrificed His blood that our sins might be washed away. After Christ's resurrection and ascension, the Disciples also suffered greatly for their belief in our Lord and their willingness to do as He instructed, even when it greatly displeased the powers and leaders of the time. They also sacrificed on our behalf as they established and nurtured the early church. Stephen was martyred, Paul suffered many beatings and imprisonments, an exiled John died alone.

God gave up His only Son. Jesus gave up His body and life. The Disciples gave up everything. Since the day Christ ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit descended upon us to live within us, men and women have faced harsh decisions for their beliefs and have made great sacrifices to follow the word of God and the teachings of Christ. They clearly understood the meaning of Lent.

But what of us today, in our comfortable homes? What of we who have so much, who know little or no want, whose needs are easily met? What do we sacrifice for our Lord? What have we given up to follow Jesus? What hardships, real or contrived, do we face because of our belief in and support of our Lord Christ?

It is very important to note that we do not gain our way into heaven by observing Lent nor any other religious season or ritual, for works alone will not avail us. The work has already been done for us. During Lent, we recognize and give thanks for those sacrifices made so long ago. Many do so by giving up some small comfort for the forty days leading up to Easter, commemorating the forty days Jesus fasted in the wilderness and prayed, before completing His journey to the cross. Maybe we will give up sweets or going out to movies. But to be meaningful, we should give up something that is really important to us, just as those we recognize did. If you've wanted to quit smoking for years, now is a great time to do it. If alcohol has a grip on you, give it up for Lent and you may find you can live without it for life. Sacrifice large meals in favor of smaller portions. Double your gifts to your church or charity. Give something that causes you a little pain. Your rewards will be great! Improved health, longer life, and more stars in your heavenly crown will surely follow.

You may also want to add something new into your life. If you don't already, make time each day for prayer and devotions, listening carefully for God's response. Teach a Sunday School class at church, sing in the choir, or assist with a service. Step out of your comfort zone for a bit and enrich your relationship with Jesus.

Take advantage of Lent by giving up! Give up a pleasure that you feel you want more than anything. Give up a comfort that makes life bearable. Give up a bad habit you think you can't live without. And give up your heart and life to Jesus -- not just for forty days, but for ever. Amen.

Unto Us

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder: and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

-- Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah was the greatest of the prophets and his poetic writings provide the best picture and the richest revelation of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. To understand the full impact of just how closely he described the life and times of Jesus, you need to understand that Isaiah lived about 740 years before Christ! His ministry to the people of Judah, the southern kingdom of the Jews, began when the ten tribes that made up the northern kingdom of Israel were being carried away into captivity by the invading Assyrians and ended some fifty years later, about the time Judah was taken captive into Babylon. That he was able to so accurately and beautifully predict how our Christ would come to us, live with us, and die by us is nothing short of amazing, and clearly indicates just how God-inspired are his words.

As I write this message, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is beginning to subside and we can take a few moments to stop and think about what Christmas really means to us. Over the last few weeks we had many opportunities to celebrate the birth of our Savior, to reflect on how God with us impacts our lives. We had church services we could attend and concerts of special Christmas music and Nativity scenes our children depicted for us. But now all that crashing wave has passed and we can think about the message Isaiah and others gave us.

That Isaiah lived so long before Christ yet was able to so clearly describe His life is a sure indication that God spoke through Isaiah, and that the promises He makes are true and trustworthy. The passages from the Old Testament that relate directly to New Testament scripture and the Gospel can be used to corroborate one another, giving validity to both for those who need more "proof" than faith alone can offer them. It is not just that what Isaiah predicted came true, it is that he so accurately described what would come to life over 700 years later that gives perfect credence to his words.

But for myself, when I read this particular verse of Isaiah, I not only feel wonder in his prophesy, but I take great comfort in his choice of words. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." Not just to you, not just to me, not just to those scattered tribes of Israel or to the people of Judah who were slipping into idolatry, but to all of us did Jesus come. He was born for all our sakes. This makes it personal, this birth of the Christ, this giving of a Son. He was given for all of us, this greatest gift, and all the rule of heaven was placed upon His shoulder.

And note that Isaiah did not say that a Child will be born, or that a Child was born, but that a Child is born. Even though Isaiah knew that he and everyone that lived during his days would be dead long before this Child would be born, he realized that the Savior would be for him and all the people of his time, just as He would be for those alive when Jesus walked the earth. And that also means He came for us who were born long after Jesus rose from the grave, and for all of those who will come after us until the end of time when Jesus comes again as Judge.

Unto us a Child is born, the Prince of Peace, the Son of God.

Amen.

What Is Good

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

-- Micah 6:8

In Chapter 6, Micah is trying to present God's case against the people of Israel. He begins, almost sounding like a frustrated parent: "Just what have I done to you? Why won't you listen to me?" Can't you just feel the Lord's anguish? You likely may have heard the same words from your mother or father, and perhaps have expressed them to your own child. To think that even God could become so exasperated gives us a better image of the level of exasperation Micah is trying to paint when dealing with God's chosen people. He is saying, "What has God done to you that you can ignore Him like this?". And he is reaching back through time to ask us the very question today.

But not only does he ask the question, he provides an answer. Like a parent might say, "I'm the one who clothes you and feeds you and keeps a roof over your head.", Micah reminds the people that God delivered them from slavery and led them out of the land of Egypt, of all the good the Lord has done for them.

And then he ponders the question of how to thank God for all this, how should the people come before God to show their appreciation. Should they bow down before Him? Should they bring burnt offerings or year-old calves? Would the Lord be pleased with ten thousand rams or ten thousand rivers of oil? Would our firstborn children, the fruit of our own bodies, be sufficient to offset our transgressions, our sins? Just what does God want, what does He deem good in His sight?

And then Micah tells us. All God requires is that we act justly, that we love mercy, and that we walk humbly with God.

There are two aspects to this simple request that I would like to examine more closely. First, we are instructed to walk humbly with God. We are not to parade before His throne showing off our spiritual finery. We are not even to come to Him on bowed knee. Both of those actions, on the surface, appear to be something you would do once, or maybe every now and then. Like a visit you would make, just dropping in to see God. No, we are to walk humbly with God. We are to be with Him every moment we live, with every breath we take. When you walk along with someone you are intent on their company. You talk together as you walk. You share with them the things you see around you and what is going on with your life. This is what God wants. He desires that you walk with Him, that you be intent upon Him, and that you share with Him every little detail of your life. And He wants you to be humble in your walk, not prideful or boastful of all the wonderful deeds you do. He wants you to help others to the best of your ability and capability, for your good as well as theirs; not so that others can think how great you are but that you can take comfort in knowing you can help make a difference. Be humble, but more importantly, be constantly and ever with God as you walk through this life.

The second aspect I would like to ponder comes especially to mind with the upcoming Advent and Christmas season. Micah, being an Old Testament prophet, spoke these words before the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Shortly after the birth of Jesus, wise men appeared from the east, following a star and a promise, and laid wonderful gifts before the heavenly baby. While many believe this set the precedent for gift giving at Christmas, it also served as making an offering to God, as He appeared in the flesh. Micah is telling us that while sharing gifts is indeed a wonderful thing, God does not require it. God would rather see that we treat each other with true justice, mercy, and love. And isn't this also exactly what Jesus asked? Isn't this the foundation for His new covenant with us, that we love one another even as we love ourselves, even as we love our God? For if we do so, we will also act justly and show mercy at all times.

As you wrap your bright gifts this holiday season, please remember to add justice and mercy to your list of gifts to give, and all of God's children as a recipient. Be humble and be gracious as you walk through life with God ever at your side. By this you will give to God what is good. Amen.

I Believe

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.-- Hebrews 11:1

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, 'May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you've received it, it will be yours.”-- Mark 11:22-24 (NLT)

The Apostle John, in the eighteenth chapter of his Gospel, recounts for us a conversation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, after Jesus' capture, during His so-called trial. Jesus had just spoken of His kingdom not being of this world, and Pilate, in his best “Ah-hah! Gotcha!” voice exclaimed, “You are a king then!”. The rest of verse 37 is the response Jesus gave: “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate, refusing to cede the argument, countered with the cynical “What is truth?” before turning away and leaving the room. Jesus used two key words in His response: fact and truth.

We basically have three ways of expressing what we perceive as a fact or the truth. Generally, if we can verify something with one of our senses – if we can see it or touch it or smell it or taste it or hear it – if we can somehow prove it exists, we say we know it to be true. This could also include the variations of “I'd bet the farm on it”, or maybe not being 100% sure since we are aware of optical illusions or other phenomena that may fool our senses, so we may hedge our answer just a bit. And there are those cases where we cannot fully rely on our five senses, nor provide sufficient proof, to verify the truth of their existence. Those times we may say “I think it is so”, or “I'm pretty sure”, or “Well, yeah, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it”. These could also be used for what I will call comparative facts, where your opinion and mine may differ. Like, “I think it's hot in here, but I'm wearing this suit and standing up here in front of all of you and more nervous than a long tailed cat in a retirement home so it may not seem hot at all to you.”

And then there are those times when you know something beyond even the glimmer of a doubt, even though you have no proof for it whatsoever. It is then that we exhibit true faith, and we say “I believe it to be true”. In the Letter to the Hebrews, usually attributed to the Apostle Paul, we learn that faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. The author then goes on to say that the ancients were commended for their faith. He gives Abraham as an example, citing that purely by faith, when called to to go to some place he would only later learn the location of, Abraham did just that. He obediently followed God's instructions because he had faith in God. In other words, Abraham believed.

Every week we stand here and recite what has become known as the Apostle's Creed. While tradition has it that the creed was written on the day of, or shortly after, Pentecost by the Apostles themselves, most Biblical authorities today believe the authors to have been a group of close followers of the Apostles, sometime within the first few centuries after Pentecost, or during the Apostolic age. So it is safe to say that these statements of belief have been around a while, and have well stood the test of time. But is this creed so old, and so often used, that we take it for granted, that we no longer listen to the words as we speak them, but instead chant them as a ritual, as a solemn duty? Today, I asked us to join hands as we joined voices, to interject something new into the ritual, so that maybe we would pay more attention to the words leaving our lips. And now, if you will indulge me, I would like to look a little more closely into this list of brief statements that together form the fundamental tenets of Christian belief.

I believe. I am sure of what I hope for, and, in this case, sure of what I cannot see. I have faith. And by faith I know. By faith I believe.

I believe in God. Every time I see the sun set, or a baby's fingers, I believe. When I hear a bird's song, or a breeze fluffing dry leaves, I believe. I touch a snowflake, it melts in my hand, and I believe. I smell the ocean's life, breathe in the earth following a rain, and I believe. I can sip from a cool mountain spring, or bite into an apple right off the tree, and I believe. All five of my senses offer proof of the existence of a living God Who ordered and controlled every thing. I can neither see nor hear nor touch nor smell nor taste God, no more than I can experience the wind itself except by its passing. (No, we do not smell the wind, but only the scents it carries. Neither can we feel it, but only its effect on our skin as it passes.) Yet I know He exists by the effects He creates.

The Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. I also believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, and that what it tells me I can accept as truth. Jesus Himself spoke of God as His Father, and even instructed us to address God and consider Him as our heavenly Father also. And since the Bible tells us that God is the one God, the only God, we can know He is all mighty, all powerful. There is nothing God cannot do, nothing that is beyond His power, no force that can prevent Him from accomplishing His great plan. Not only did He create this earth upon which we live, us, and the plants and animals we share earth with, He created the sun that warms us and all the stars and planets and moons that speckle our night sky. He created the angels to worship and serve Him, and heaven where they all reside. He even created Lucifer, who turned on God and now torments us all with his misguided and self-destructive desire to be greater than God. I believe that all that there is, God created.

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord. It is sometimes a little difficult to think of this all powerful God as a small human baby, but this is exactly how He came into our world in the flesh. God knows that many have trouble believing in something they cannot see or touch. He has witnessed how easily we fall into idol worship. So He knew that for us to more easily believe, He would need to give us something physical. Because He loves us so much, He came to us in the flesh, as His only Son, to walk among us, live with us, suffer our pains, dream our dreams, and ultimately die at our hands. This is our one true Lord, Jesus Christ.

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. For God to become flesh, to take the physical form of a man, it was necessary to be born of a human woman but fathered by God Himself. So the third form of God, the third member of the Holy Trinity, entered Mary and planted the seed within her that would grow to be our Lord and Savior. But even the Son of God needed an earthly father, and Joseph humbly obeyed God's angels and accepted the special circumstances of the birth of Jesus, and raised Him as his own, teaching Him the ways of the world, while allowing Him a religious upbringing as well.

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. As Jesus grew into a young man, He also grew into the role He was born to, just as He later told Pilate as related in the Scripture of John. He shared the truth with the world of man. He taught the true way of life. He promised eternal life to those who would only believe. And He made enemies, great and powerful enemies who sought to silence Him, no matter what it took. So they arrested Jesus and handed Him over to the governor assigned by Rome, for the Jews had no authority to put a man to death but the Romans indeed did. It is significant that we can, through this article of faith, pinpoint with great certainty the time when Jesus suffered and was put to death, because we can determine when Pilate ruled over the Jews by researching independent, non-Biblical documents and records. This places His death as an event in earthly time, not something that simply happened “long ago”. While in Roman hands, Jesus was beaten mercilessly, the flesh literally ripped from His body, was ridiculed and derided, was spat on and jeered, and was nailed to a rough-hewn cross, upon which His earthly body died. His corpse was taken from the cross, cleaned, wrapped in funeral cloths, and interred in a new tomb, the entrance of which was blocked and sealed by a huge boulder.

He descended into hell. Jesus went to the place of the dead. Jesus was really dead. His mortal body ceased all functions. There was no illusion, no slight of hand. Jesus went to where all people who die goes, for He was dead. For those who think death is final, as most did during the time of His walk on earth and many still do today, this would be the end of the story of the Man of Nazareth. Jesus went where the dead all go, never to return or be seen again.

The third day He rose again from the dead. Now this is the one article that makes every Christian heart sing! Even death could not hold our Christ! Through Jesus, God showed us that He can conquer death, that anything is within His power. Jesus did return, he was seen again, in the flesh and by many people, hundreds of people. His wounds could be seen and touched, His voice heard. This was no mere apparition, no illusion. This was the living, walking, talking Jesus Christ once again. The boulder was pushed from the tomb and the once-dead Jesus walked back out. Had our Lord not risen from the grave, there would be no Christian faith today. We would perhaps have an interesting story of a man from somewhere around the Sea of Galilee who preached a little here and there. But no, that is not the case. Now we know for sure that our God lives! He defeated death and rose from the grave and walked among us once again!

He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Once His work upon earth was done, once doubtful man was assured of His defeat over death, Jesus bodily arose into heaven. We know that there He has joined God His Father and sits at His right hand. The Son and the Father, both part of God, equals with the Holy Spirit in the form of the Holy Trinity.

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. In his book of Revelation, Jesus revealed through John that He would come again some day, and would at that time sit in judgment of all mankind, both those who had died and gone on before and those still living on that day, both the quick and the dead. It won't matter if you are dead or alive at that time, or when you died. You will stand before Jesus. Your name will be searched for in the Book of Life. You will be separated, either to Christ's right to enjoy eternal life with Him and His Father, or to His left where you will be cast into the lake of fire, there to spend an eternity in torment. Matthew assures us of this in the twenty-fifth chapter of his Gospel.

I believe in the Holy Ghost. This is the third aspect of God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, share equal power and authority in the Holy Trinity, yet each has specific functions or roles as directed by God to assist mankind. The Holy Ghost is that aspect of God which was sent after Christ's ascension to fill man and become part of him. Its role is to guide us, to speak God's word into our hearts, to give us courage and strength, to console us and comfort us. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us, to continue Christ's mission of teaching us the true way.

The holy catholic church. Many people are confused by this phrase, and some even take offense at it. But this is not what some think. This does not refer to the Christian sect known as the Catholic Church, capital “C”, or any of its variations. The word “catholic” has as a general meaning of universal in extent, involving all, of interest to all. In this sense, in this phrase, it means pertaining to the whole Christian body or church. So when I say I believe in the holy catholic church, I mean that I truly believe in the entire church of Christ, serving as the body of Christ left on earth to fulfill His commission to us. It means that I believe that Christ intended God's word to be available to us all, His plan to be intended for us all, and not just some select few. I believe in the complete and universal love of God.

The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins. Here, the saints are all those who suffered, were persecuted, were put to death for their belief in God and in Jesus Christ our Lord. Throughout time, even to this day, people of God, brothers and sisters of Christ, have suffered great physical and emotional pain, even death, simply because of their beliefs. The forces of Satan cannot stand such faith, and torture those who will not be deterred from God. At the time of final judgment, these saints will be granted life eternal by Jesus. And we all can be forgiven of our sins, just as Jesus forgave so many as He walked among us. If we believe in Him, admit our sins, and truly repent of them, He will forgive us and stand for us before God at our judgment. Again, forgiveness is not for some select few, but for all who believe and who repent.

The resurrection of the body. Just as Jesus bodily rose from the dead and walked among us again before ascending into heaven, He promises we will also be resurrected in the flesh, that the graves and the seas will give up the bodies of the dead and they will stand before the loving Judge. He promises death will not hold us captive, just as it did not hold Him. Just as He walked from the grave, so will we. We were created in the image of God, and in His image will we live forever.

And the life everlasting. This is what Christians live for, what we long for. Eternal life. But we usually mean eternal life with Jesus, life after death, living in the new heaven and the new earth. But the final judgment also promises eternal life for those who do not believe, who did not repent. This is a life of everlasting fire and torment, the punishment promised for the beast, his false prophet, and Lucifer himself as well as all their agents of evil both alive at that time and dead. I believe in the life everlasting, so I understand that I can choose to suffer eternal torment, or live forever with my Lord and Savior. I choose Christ.

I believe.

Amen.

Freed!

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

-- John 8:31-32 (RSV)

Before leaving the region of his home near the Sea of Galilee, before beginning His fateful journey to the cross, Jesus and His followers stopped for a while at the Mount of Olives. He knew His time had not yet come, so He avoided Judea and Jerusalem. Still the people, and especially the Pharisees, came to Him, crowding around to hear His words. For the religious leaders, the interest was more sinister. They sought to trap Jesus, to find in His words and deeds justification for bringing the rule of the law against Him. It was at this point where they took a woman before Him, one they caught in the act of adultery, and challenged Him to obey the law of Moses and declare she must be stoned. They did this to test Him, in hopes that they might now have some charge to bring against Him. To the amazement of all, He uttered the words we know so well: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:7b, RSV) One by one, the Pharisees dropped their stones and walked away.

But they returned after Jesus sent the woman away, forgiven and with instructions to sin no more, and once again questioned Him and His motives. He tried to explain to them just who He was and by what authority He serves mankind. Yet these leaders did not understand, nor did they want to. They could not grasp that Jesus spoke of God as the One who speaks through Him, the Father through the Son. So He turned to those who did truly believe in Him and assured them that the knowledge of that simple truth, that Jesus serves us by the authority of God, would indeed set them all free.

Still the Pharisees could not understand this concept, the idea behind the words. They rebuffed Jesus that they were the children of Abraham and had never been in bondage, so how could they be made free if they were never bound? What they failed to realize, as Jesus tried to explain, is that "Every one who commits sin is a slave to sin." (John 8:34b, RSV) By sinning, mankind is bound in slavery to sin. But by believing in Christ, by following His teachings, we will know the truth, and this truth will free us from the chains of sin forever.

Through John and the eighth chapter of his Gospel, Jesus promises us that sin will not last forever, but that God the Father will. His love will endure for eternity. And we, by His grace and the sacrifice of His Son upon the cross, will be freed from sin and death and will live in our Father's house for ever and ever. When we have savored our final breath upon this earth, the binds of this world will loosen and slip from around us. We will be made free by our belief in our risen Savior. What a blessed day that will be!

Freed! Thank you dear Jesus for freeing me!

Then They Sang

Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

-- Matthew 26:30 (CEV)

In his recording of the last days of Jesus' mortal life on earth, the Apostle Matthew preserved for us the events of our Lord's last meal with His disciples. Through these verses we learn that one of the twelve will betray Jesus, one will deny Him, and all will reject Him, even if only briefly. In his own terse way, Matthew also saved for us the acts and words that play the major role in our observation of Holy Communion. But Matthew gave us one more detail, and a wondrous one at that!

Before I get to that, we need to understand that Matthew was not given to flowery language or hyperbole in his writings. Before his conversion, before the Christ bade him "Follow Me" (please see Follow Me), Matthew was a tax collector. As such, he was used to recording names and numbers, amounts of taxes levied and to whom, in the books he would keep for the officials and rulers of the land. This is pretty dry stuff, and not really the type of writing one could call creative, nor that lends itself to much expression. But it did require great attention to detail. Preciseness would be far more important than ease of reading. So it is understandable if Matthew provides a simpler, more straightforward account of Jesus' life than Mark, Luke or John might have given. It isn't so much that Matthew was unimaginative, but that his style was to record what happened in simple words that all could understand while still capturing the details surrounding the events.

Now Jesus knew His remaining time as a man was rapidly approaching a close. He had ridden into Jerusalem, not as a conqueror but as a servant upon the back of a donkey, accompanied by the adoring throngs lifting joyful shouts of "Hosanna" into the air. He knew those shouts would soon turn to "Crucify him!". Judas, the betrayer, had already run from the room. The meal was finished and they prepared to depart from the room, after which Jesus and the remaining disciples would go to Gethsemane. A more solemn time I can barely imagine. Especially in the heart and mind of Jesus, who knew exactly how the coming times would play out.

And yet, in the midst of all this confusion and anger and sadness and deepening sense of coming loss, Matthew, the one not prone to emotionalize or exaggerate and event he recorded, tells us that after Jesus and the disciples finished their meal and before they left for the Mount of Olives, they sang. They sang. With all that was going on, with all that was about to happen, Jesus and His closest followers stopped, lifted their eyes to heaven, and sang a hymn to God the Father!

In this one short verse, Matthew shows us just how truly human the Son of Man was. He sang! We know he preached and taught and questioned the religious leaders and answered questions from everyone and shouted at demons and otherwise opened His mouth and spoke words on many occasions for a great variety of reasons. And now we know He also sang! He sang to God, His own Father! Singing is so much more than some expression of thought as directed by the brain. It is the expression of the joy or sorrow held within the heart and soul. Singing gives voice to our innermost feelings, laying bare our longings and desires.

I chose the Contemporary English Version (CEV) of this verse for a reason. Most other translations give the key phrase as "When they had sung the hymn". Do you notice the subtle difference - "they had sung" versus "they sang"? To me, saying "they had sung" implies that the act had little meaning other than it happened. It's an afterthought, not important enough to play even a major role in the sentence. With that phrase pushed aside, "they went out to the Mount of Olives" takes the center of attention. But the way this is given in the CEV, that they sang now shares equal importance and attention to going to the Mount. More importantly, it shows more humanity in the participants, makes them more like us. Because when we think about a church service we may think that we sang a hymn, just like Jesus and His disciples did that night so long ago. We sang, and they sang. We're not so different after all.

Jesus sang! Can't you just see it? Everyone finished eating, put their forks and napkins down, took their last sip of drink, stood up, maybe joined hands, and broke out into a song of praise to God. Eleven men and the Son of Man lifted their voices in love and prayer. Matthew does not note any hesitation or embarrassment, just that they sang.

Jesus sang. Let's all join Him on the next hymn.

Declare God's Glory!!!

Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.

-- 1 Chronicles 16:24

"Declare God's Glory!!!" Those words took residence in a prominent location on the front of my refrigerator many months ago, emblazoned upon an index card. I see them every time I prepare dinner. I read them whenever I reach for my pitcher of cold sweet tea (a true Southern tradition). I repeat them, sometimes silently, sometimes boldly in full voice, with each grasp of the door handle. Those three words stand etched in stone before my mind's eye.

Many of us poor mortals trudge through life wondering why we are here, what we're supposed to do. We even question what life itself is all about, what is its meaning and purpose. We pose the questions in songs, in literature, in private musings, and even in public conversations. After years of this futility, many give up questioning. Some adopt an egocentric attitude and decide to take for themselves what they can while they can. Others choose a hedonistic approach, and do it if it feels good, not matter what "it" is or who else might be affected by their actions. Still others resign themselves to never knowing the answers, and thus have no outlook on life other than to get through it.

But countless numbers of us figured it out long ago. Someone introduced us to God, our parents or a pastor or a good friend, and we built a growing, loving relationship with Him. We read His word as recorded in the Holy Bible and understand our relationship with Him, and within that relationship our purpose in life -- to declare the glory of God!

I say "countless numbers" because in Revalation 7:9 (NIV), John tells us: "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands." These were those whose names appear in the Book of Life, the saved. Now in other verses John reported the number of angels around the throne as ten thousand times ten thousand, and that those sealed numbered one hundred and forty-four thousand, and that the army of the horsemen numbered two hundred million. So just how large a throng must John have encountered that "no one could count"? Much larger than two hundred million, or ten thousand times ten thousand. A countless multitude of saved souls.

God created us that we might worship Him. He gave us free will that we might choose to worship Him, or we might choose one of the approaches mentioned above, taking the path of the lost. Angels have no choice but to worship God. They were created by the Maker to do just that and only that, to serve the Lord with all their being. But God gave us a choice. He loves us so dearly that He was willing to take a chance that we might not love Him in return. But by taking that risk, He is so greatly rewarded and pleased when we do choose to love Him, to worship Him as our Lord, not because we have to, but because we WANT to!

Those of us who are parents know the risk God takes here. We bring children into this world, care for them, nurture them, provide for their needs, teach them as best we can. We love them. And we hope and pray that they will love us in return. How woeful we become, how filled with sorrow, when they rebel against our authority, as teens are wont to do. But oh how great is the feeling, how wonderful, when as adults they show us they indeed do love us and understand what we tried to do for them.

That is how it must feel for God when we choose to love and worship Him. He created us. He loves us enough to give His only Son up as the ultimate sacrifice, giving us eternal life at His side if we only believe in His Son as our Savior, if we only choose to worship and love the Lord.

How then do we repay that love God showers upon us? By worshipping Him. And how better to worship God than by declaring His glory to all the nations, his wonders to all His people! So grab a sheet of paper and write down those three words. Stick it on your refrigerator, your front door, your bathroom mirror, or all three! Repeat the words as often as you see them. Soon you will see them, as do I, emblazoned across the very skies before you.

Declare God's Glory!!! Amen.

I Will Show You

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

-- Jeremiah 33:3

The Holy Bible records many instances of the direct works of God before men. The Old Testament, especially, bears frequent witness to people having contacts with angels, conversations with God, God's handiwork in the world. Whether from a burning bush or a cloud overhead, people sometimes heard the voice of God in answer to their pleas or giving them direction.

Today, those who do not believe in God, or who struggle with their belief, often express their disbelief by pointing to these instances of direct divine intervention in Biblical times and asking why not today? They smugly note that if God indeed existed, why does He not show Himself today like He did then?

The simple answer also comes from the Bible, this time from the New Testament. God gave His own Son to the world, that through Him we might be saved. Once the ultimate sacrifice was given, and we became washed clean of our sins by the blood of the Lamb, salvation is within our grasp if we only believe. God made the final direct intervention to mankind through Jesus Christ.

The answer that unbelievers or those weak in their faith may find a little more difficult to accept is that God still speaks to us, directly. He still shows Himself to us so that we might glorify Him. All we have to do is call to Him, and He will answer. Not that we can expect to hear a voice say "Yes?" when we shout "Lord!". We need not stand on the mountain heights and scream at the top of our lungs for God to listen to our pleas. No, we need only stop, be still, be silent, and listen with our hearts for the soft whispers of our Father's comforting voice. If we do shout for His attention, He may answer simply with birdsong, or a baby's laughter. If we scream out our needs, He may answer years later, silently giving us what we truly needed.

And if we stand upon the mountain and lift our eyes to the heavens, He may show us the wonders of His rising or setting sun, of His beautifully painted landscape, of lightning crackling through the air. On the palette of a cloudless night sky, He displays for our viewing pleasure the vast infinity of the universe He made come into being. He gives us glimpses into the very nature of life which He designed.

We sit in our laboratories doing all manner of scientific endeavor, splitting atoms and mapping the human genome, and we think we are so clever. Yet we sometimes forget that God created the very atoms we study, He laid out the human map we decipher. All we have seen, all we know, He showed us in His own due time. All great and mighty things are the result of God's loving hands, and He presents His majestic works for our wonderment, our awe, and sometimes just to show us things which we do not know.

Stop for a moment. Be silent and listen. Look around you. Pay attention: God is talking to you.

Create In Me

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

-- Psalm 51:10

"Lord, send a revival.
Lord, send a revival.
Lord, send a revival,
and let it begin in me."

-- from the movie "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit"

I love the two "Sister Act" movies because I love music and the way music is used in those wonderful little films to glorify our Lord. At first the church choir struggles with poor pitch, bad timing, and many sour notes. But they make dramatic improvements when a Vegas show girl, hiding out from her gangster former boyfriend and impersonating a nun, leads them, using modern, even secular pieces to sing to God. They don't just sing God's praises, they sing to Him. Church choirs everywhere, yours most definitely included, delight in lifting a joyful song unto the Lord. We sing to our Father, and by doing so, praise Him.

The lyrics above were not performed by that little choir, instead sung by a high school choir in competition, and though only a short piece included mainly to give the primary teen actors in the second film something to admire and talk about before taking the stage themselves, it nonetheless struck a chord within me (if you will pardon the pun) and stayed with me over the years. Today those words seem to resonate even more clearly within my heart, for our dear Lord has most certainly sent a revival that began in me.

Spring is the traditional time of renewal, of life emerging once again from its winter slumbers. Easter personifies this with the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and His ascension to His throne and dominion over all the universe. Renewal, rebirth, revival. We all feel it to some degree. I am experiencing it first hand.

While perhaps not completely lost, I had certainly been hiking further and further off the straight and narrow path Jesus teaches us to follow. But the Good Shepherd knew I was in peril, so He came looking for me. He sent some earthly angels to take my hand and bring me back to the safety of the fold. I am still a sinner, and there may be times when you think that, like the character in the movie, I am impersonating something I most certainly am not. I am just so filled with the Holy Spirit that I fear it often overflows and comes flooding out of my mouth (or fingers, as the case may often be). My prayer is to excite everyone I touch with just how much our Savior loves us and how much He offers.

I would like to encourage everyone to not only attend your regular Sunday morning worship services, but to also join a Sunday School classes if you do not already attend one regularly. Jesus taught that one of the best ways to keep Him in our hearts and to stay on His path is to spend as much time as possible with others who seek the same goal, so that we provide support to each other and reinforce positive Christian beliefs. Sunday School offers not only an opportunity to learn something new, but also the chance of teaching others, of helping them, of sharing insights. In this way we all benefit and build a closer relationship to Jesus. By discussing confusing passages or even controversial subjects that Christians are faced with today, we can gain a better understanding of our own goals, our own purpose in life, and the ideals we should strive for. Please, join us. Please take advantage of every opportunity each week to unite with your friends in worship, inspiration and prayer. Take advantage, and take a closer walk with God.

The Lord sent a revival. Now let it continue in us.

What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
-- John 3:16-17

John 3:16 - probably the best known of all verses in the Christian Bible. While it could just as easily speak of the greatest love that mankind could ever be shown, it also gives testimony to what it means to be a Christian.

As I began preparing this message, I immediately thought of the "You might be a redneck" comedy routine made famous by Jeff Foxworthy. You know how it goes... "If your hound dog gets the queen-size bed all to himself while you and the wife share the pullout sofa, you might be a redneck." Here's what I had in mind:

If you help feed the hungry, you might be a Christian. Jesus Himself said this, as recorded in Chapter 25 of Matthew, verse 35: "for I was hungry and you gave Me food".

If you give a glass of water to someone thirsting, you might be a Christian. That's from Jesus again: "I was thirsty and you gave Me drink".

If you take in a stranger in need and provide shelter for them, you might be a Christian. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Jesus yet again: "I was a stranger and you took Me in".

If you offer clothing to the needy, visit the sick, homebound, and infirm, or give hope and inspiration to those incarcerated in jail or in prison, you just might be a Christian. Why do I say this? Matthew saved for us the words of the Christ as He related to His disciples some of the events that will occur at the end of days, when Jesus shall serve as Judge of man:

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" -- Matthew 25:31-40

Christ is telling us right there that He fully expects us take care of all of mankind to the best of our ability and capability to do so. Those hungry, those thirsty, those poor, those ill, those incarcerated. None are beneath us. None are any less deserving of our compassion and caring and love. For how we treat even the very least of these our brothers and sisters, that is how our wonderful Savior sees us treating Him. For we are all His children, all of us. Those of us more able to help others less capable are called upon to do so. And you'll notice that Matthew did not quote Jesus as making exceptions for those who may have had it coming to them, or those who brought it all upon themselves, or those who deserved whatever they got. When you care about even those some might consider the worst of human trash and filth, you care about your Savior.

And that is why I say you might be a Christian if you do these things. I would tell you that there are many people in this world who do great works for their fellow man, who feed the hungry and clothe the naked and give aid and comfort to the neediest of mankind. Yet they are not Christians, and they will not take their place at the throne of glory Jesus spoke of. Why not? Simply put, they do not accept John 3:16.

The Gospel as recorded for us by John, perhaps more so than any other book, overflows with examples of God's love for His children. And in verse 16 of chapter 3, he gives us the best expression of this: "God so loved the world". Can you even begin to imagine how terrible it would be to watch as your only child, tried in a farce of a court of law, found guilty without benefit of defense, humiliated, tortured, beaten, and finally put to death in a horrible, most painful manner? How would you feel? What would you do? And what if, all the time this was happening, you had the power to stop it, but knew in your heart that you must allow these events to transpire for the good of all those you love? This is God's love, that He would offer up His only Son as the ultimate sacrifice, place all the sins of the world upon the One without sin.

So, what does it take to be a Christian? There are a few things we must understand. First, we must remember what Jesus instructed us while He still walked among us. John, in the 34th verse of his 13th chapter, relays this instruction to us, telling us Jesus said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." So there is the first phrase of the definition of a Christian: that we love others the way that Jesus loves us. Of course, simply loving others is not a sure sign of a Christian, but it is definitely a requisite.

A more important requirement is to understand that we are sinners. All of us. We are born into sin because of our heritage, as the offspring of Adam and Eve. We sin when we knowingly and willfully do others harm. We sin when we think ourselves better than others, and by doing so think we know more than God, who created us all and loves us all. We carry the original sin with us as baggage through the airport. Unfortunately, we collect and amass even more baggage as we walk along through life. We Christians know we are sinners. But we also know how to get rid of all that unsightly luggage.

We must understand that Jesus was persecuted, beaten, nailed to a cross, and died so that His blood could wash away our sins, so that we might stand pure and clean before the throne of God on the day we are judged. This is the crux of John 3:16, that we believe, truly believe that Christ died for us, that He sacrificed Himself that we might live forever in His Father's house in heaven. If we only believe. Jesus did all of this for you and for me. He gave completely of Himself, for you and for me. Believe it.

Next we must realize that our Savior defeated death, rose from the depths of hell, and lives to this day. Not only did He die for us, but He came back from death to prove to all who would see that we too can live forever! He told us that we need not fear death, for a greater life awaits us. He showed us that this is not all there is, that the grave is not permanent. All the promises He made while walking among us were immediately and thoroughly authenticated by the act of His fulfilling just this one of them. The very fact that He rose from the dead, just like He said He would, proves that we can trust everything else He told us. In His Father's house are many rooms, and He has already prepared one for us, where we will dwell with Him forever.

And finally, we have been charged by Jesus to spread the good word. Mark, in chapter 1 verse 17, and Matthew, in chapter 4 verse 19, both recorded the words of Christ as He directed them: "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The emphasis and importance of being repeated in two Gospels clearly marks our Lord's expectations, that His followers help bring in the greatest catch of all - His children back to His arms. Of course, He did not mean for them to cast nets over the heads of people and drag them off to church. No, their task was to go out into the world, sharing Christ's message with all they contact. Mark confirms this in the 15th verse of his 16th chapter, quoting Jesus as directing "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." John puts a slightly different spin on this in chapter 17, verse 18, as Jesus prayed to His Father: "Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world." And John reports on Jesus speaking to the disciples in chapter 20 verse 21: "As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you." And in chapter 1 verse 8 of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul relates Jesus saying "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

In the Greek language, the word "martyr" is derived from the word for "witness". During the first century AD, those who dared serve as witnesses to the risen Christ were persecuted, jailed, and often killed for their beliefs. Jesus calls each of us to be His witness. He knows there are potentially deadly ramifications to doing so, but He promises great rewards. Today, for most of us here in Mt. Pleasant, we will never have to face death for our belief in the Lord. The worst we may experience is embarrassment from facing a group of people, or ridicule from those who serve Satan. But being a witness is more than just seeing, in it also reporting what has been seen. Being a Christian means you have seen the truth, that Jesus is your risen Savior. Now complete the task and report to others what you have seen.

Christ has risen! Jesus lives! Hallelujah!! Amen.

A New Creation

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:17

When writing his second letter to the people of the church in Corinth, Paul tried to explain the permanence of the next life that awaits us as compared to the fragility of this life on earth. He wants to assure them that even "if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1) He wants to comfort them, to help them understand that no matter what happens in this life, that what is to come will be all new, not formed by human hands, not subject to rot or decay or erosion. All we have to do is believe in Christ as our Savior and follow His commandment to love each other, and we will be recreated anew! We don't even have to wait for the next life, it happens as soon as we become one in Christ.

Think about that a moment. Let me repeat this simple sentence. When we are in Christ, when we know Him as our Savior, the true Messiah, then we become a new creation. The old us is gone and a new person stands in our place. Now, of course, this does not mean that we change dramatically physically, although we will be prone to smile more often, to weep more often, to show care and feelings on our faces more often. No, the change occurs within us. We are new, no longer created by hands, but formed of heaven. Our souls are no longer subject to the rot and decay that is the domain of Lucifer, but can better resist his attempts to erode our faith in the Lord.

This eloquent verse carries even more beauty in other translations. The New Living Translation of the Bible gives it as "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" This tells us that our old life, our old ways, are over. What we did in the past is long gone. We have begun a new life, and with it come new ways of dealing with life, of treating our brothers and sisters in this walk upon the earth. When we are filled with Jesus, when we follow His commandment, we must look upon others with a new heart. We feel the blessings of our Lord, and the urge to share those blessings grows ever stronger with our love of Christ, with our new life in Him.

The Contemporary English Version offers blessed assurance when it presents this verse as "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new." This carries the addition, and most wonderful message that all our past sins are not only forgiven once we truly proclaim our faith in Jesus, but they are also forgotten! Jesus has stood for us and God will now not even remember our past failures! By our Savior's grace we are made clean, fresh, and new before His Father.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making of me a new creation! Amen!

Up To Jerusalem

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."

-- Luke 18:31-33

In the first chapter of his book of Revelation, John speaks of Jesus as "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8b) In previous books, by other authors, God is often referred to in this manner, as being the beginning and the end and all in between. But John makes the definite correlation between God and His Son, describing Christ in the same words as those used to describe God. By this, then, we are made aware that Jesus knew everything that was to happen to Him long before it occurred. He knew of His capture, torture, and death, and why events had to unfold as they did.

In our reference scripture, Luke gives further evidence that Jesus knew exactly what He was doing, and the consequences His actions would bring. This exchange took place after He and the disciples left the area of Samaria and Galilee, after He had healed the ten lepers yet only one returned to give thanks. He taught with the parable of the persistent widow and the humble tax collector. He rebuked His followers to let the small children come to Him, He admonished the wealthy man to sell all he had and give it to the poor so that he might find treasure in heaven. He assured all who listened that with God all things are possible. And then He took the twelve aside, and gave them a glimpse of the future.

Jesus, ever the Teacher, spent His last days on His journey to Jerusalem and His fate trying to give His disciples the understanding they needed so that they could continue His works, teach His word, start and nourish His church. As usual, they could not fully comprehend the full extent of what the Son of Man planned for Himself and for them. No mortal could, as Christ knew. Yet just as He could foretell what Jerusalem held in store for Him, He was also aware that His followers would indeed understand their role, and His, once He returned to His Father and they were left to tend His fields and see to His flock.

Our Christ knew. Before the first hand raised the first palm branch, before the first Hosanna lifted into the sky, Jesus knew how this trip to Jerusalem would end. Before the crowd could even begin to think that the Son of Man would free them from the hands of the Romans, He understood that He must die at the hands of man to free them from death. He knew the heartbreak and humiliation and suffering that lay at the end of this dusty path. But on He continued. His feet never once shuffled, His step never once showed a moment of hesitation, He never evinced a second thought as He and His beloved disciples strode through the gates of Jerusalem. Only He realized this triumphant entry into the city could only truly be deemed a victory when viewed from the cross.

And still He came. With holy men and leaders just waiting to take Him captive and make an example of Him, still He came. Even as a man of flesh that can be torn and bones that can be crushed and muscle that can be strained beyond endurance, even with the absolute knowledge of just how much this would hurt, physically and emotionally, still He came. Our Savior loves us so much, just as His Father loves us. He understood only the greatest sacrifice would be worthy before God to redeem us of our lives of sin. Only the blood of the Lamb could prove sufficient to wash us clean enough to stand before the throne of His Father.

So still He came. Up to Jerusalem He came, to die so we may live.

Hosannas to our Savior! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!

Thank you, sweet Jesus! Amen.

The Good Shepherd

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."-- John 10:14

In the tenth chapter of his Gospel, John relates how Jesus described Himself as the good shepherd. His audience would have been very receptive to this analogy since tending to and caring for sheep were very critical to the lives and livelihoods of many Israelis of this time period. They understood the examples Jesus used when comparing Himself to a shepherd. He took advantage of this so they would also understand when He spoke of sheep while actually describing the people. For just as a shepherd loves and cares for his flock, so Jesus loves and cares for the children of God.

Jesus chose a number of comparisons to assure His listeners. He noted that anyone who enters the sheep pen other than through the gate is not to be trusted, but that the shepherd enters through the gate, calls his sheep by name, and they follow him. One can easily see here a reference to Lucifer and his minions, to false prophets and others who would lie or steal while doing Lucifer's bidding. Yet when our Lord enters, He will call us by our true names and we will follow.

Our opening verse above also assures us. Jesus quite clearly states that He knows us, He knows our name. And by this He also states that His true followers know Him. Christ knows you, He knew you before you were even born. He knows your real name that He will tell you when you sit by His side. And if you fully believe and follow Him, if you have a real and good relationship with Him, then you know Him too.

Jesus provides reassurance to those of us not born descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when He says, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:16) If the flock in His sheep pen are the chosen of God, the Israelis, then the other sheep he seeks to bring into the pen are the rest of us, the Gentiles. Although we may not be part of God's original chosen people, Jesus still wants us in His fold. He longs to bring us all together into one flock, one people, with Him as the one shepherd.

I purposely used the word "seeks", for in His parable of the lost sheep, Jesus notes that the good shepherd would leave his flock to go in search of one lost sheep so that he can find it and return it to the safety of the fold. And so it is with Christ. He knows His followers are safe in Him, so He can leave them to go seek out those who are lost. He will find them and lift them carefully upon His shoulders and carry them back to the full flock, the one flock.

The good shepherd knows each of his sheep by name. He loves them and cares for them. If one goes astray, he will search until he finds the lost one and bring it back to the fold. And when the wolves attack, he will fight to defend his sheep, even laying down his own life if necessary for the survival of his flock.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He knows each of us by our true name. He loves us, just as His Father loves us, and He cares about our immortal souls. When we stray, He guides us back to His way and path through the Holy Spirit within us. And if we become lost, He searches until He finds us, lovingly takes us in His arms, and brings us back to dwell with Him.

And the greatest assurance our Good Shepherd gives us through John is that He has already given His life so that we need not fear the wolves of the world, so that we might forever be saved. He laid down His life, and in so doing defeated the wolf. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, our Shepherd. Forever and ever. Amen.

By One Offering

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

-- Hebrews 10:14

When writing to the Hebrews, Paul explained how once, priests made sacrifices of living animals as offerings to God. Lambs and calves were often slain and placed upon the altar, as well as fruits and crops from the harvest, all to seek the pleasure of God that He might take away their sins. Sacrifices and offerings served as rituals of cleansing, the blood intended to wash away the sins of man.

Yet when Jesus came and walked among us, He became God's sacrifice on our behalf by the will of God the Father. Paul writes: "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God." (Hebrews 10:10-12)

What had once been commonplace and, according to the scripture quoted above, ineffectual became obsolete and unneeded with the one sacrifice Jesus made of Himself. The blood of this purest Lamb washed us all clean, with one stroke brushed clean to stand before God. The One who bore no sin of His own took upon Himself the sins of the world so that we would be free of sin when we approach the throne of our King. One death, that death would be defeated forever. One bloody sacrifice so that no more must die.

The one perfect being this world has ever known perfected forever those who He sanctified by His suffering and sacrifice. We, who are so imperfect, so riddled with worldly woes, so lost and separated from God, are made clean and perfect in the eyes of God by this one great and awesome and wonderful act, that the Son of God gave His life for our salvation.

As Easter approaches, we remember the final days of Jesus upon this earth. We honor the sacrifice He made for us. And we rejoice in the promise of our salvation in the fact of His resurrection. Share the news with those who may not know, or who may have forgotten.

Christ has risen! Jesus lives! All praise be to God! Amen.

Stand Against the Devil

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

-- Ephesians 6:11

The pages of the Bible abound with images of battle, including the imagery of the ultimate war between the armies of God and the forces of Satan. Paul makes good use of one such visualization to encourage us to take up the armor of God so that we might withstand the advances of the devil.

Satan is the greatest schemer this world has ever known. Created by God, he chose to defy his Creator rather than worship Him. Cast out of heaven, he took up residence in our mortal world, intending to draw as many of God's children away from their Father as he could, and in that way defy God. By pulling us away from God's side, the devil hurts the very One who created him. God loves us so much that He feels pain each time we turn away from Him. So each of those turns becomes a small victory for Satan, another tweak of his Master's cheek, another slap at the Lord's face. And that gives the devil pleasure.

Satan is very good at luring us away from our heavenly Father. He offers us wanton pleasures, frees us from personal responsibility, opens doors to our material dreams, sets buffets for our earthly lusts. And all we need do in return for such largesse is to enjoy it, to forget about tomorrow, to ignore the Holy Spirit within us until we become adept at no longer hearing God's voice in our hearts. It all sounds too good to be true. Because it is. For if we succumb to Satan's wiles, if we accept the devil's gifts, if we turn our backs on God and follow the path of the Evil One instead, we pay the ultimate price of eternal damnation; a high price indeed.

The devil usually takes small steps when luring us to his side. It isn't like in an old movie, where he promises us wonderful riches, anything our hearts desire, if we simply sign a contract giving him our souls when we die. No, he works more skillfully than that, more secretly and seemingly innocently. He whispers that there is really nothing wrong with taking home some office supplies, the company will never even miss them. It's understandable that you refuse to give more of your hard-earned money to the needy, nobody ever gave you anything. Go ahead and flip off that driver that just cut you off, he was rude first and deserves to be shown he can't get away with it. It isn't really lying if you don't tell your spouse about that little kiss with an old flame. Little things - sharp words, sudden spurts of unwarranted anger, small inhumanities shown to others. Small baby steps, leading to ever larger acts, increasing your pace along the path to the lake of fire at the end of days. This is how Satan works. Slowly, slyly, constantly. He is stronger than you. But he is not stronger than God. He cannot get to you when you wear the armor of God.

When Satan tempts you, when he whispers in your ear or offers a glimpse of earthly paradise, turn instead to the Lord. Don the full power of God as your protection against the devil's schemes and lures.

Your Labor Is Not In Vain

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

-- 1 Corinthians 15:58

Earlier, we looked at how we are granted entrance into heaven only through the grace of Jesus Christ our Savior, only through His blood shed upon the cross to wash away our sins and make us pure so we may stand before the throne and kneel at God's feet (see Paid In Full from September 11, 2006). We, and the scripture of Paul, noted that our good works here on earth would not pay our way, but that Christ had already paid for us. Yet lest there be any confusion, the knowledge that we defeat death solely through the grace of our Savior should not deter us from performing those good works even if our efforts here will not get us into heaven. Why? Simple: We will be judged based on those very works!

These two concepts may seem contradictory on the face of it. First, we are granted salvation only by the blood of Christ, and our belief in Him as the Messiah. Second, we will be judged according to what we did on earth. If we are passed through into heaven because of our belief, why do we need worry about being judged?

The easy answer is that we need not worry. Heaven is our ultimate goal, and to reach it we need only believe in Christ. But as we discussed before, if you truly believe in Christ, truly know Him as your Savior, you will want to follow His path, you will feel a compulsion to live your life as He lived His, and as He directed in the Gospel. In effect, you will want to do good deeds, to help others, and especially to try to help others find their way to Christ.

The scripture is replete with evidence of admonitions for us to do good. In his 25th chapter, Matthew provides us with the words Jesus spoke, listing many ways the Lord will view our actions, including these:

"I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."

-- Matthew 25:35-36

He further explained these words by saying:

"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."

-- Matthew 25:40

We should take these words as a cautionary warning, a directive, and a blessing in that our Lord gives us a clear set of guidelines to follow.

In his Revelation of Jesus Christ, John provides us with a view of the end of time, when Christ shall again come, and come into His Kingdom. In the 4th verse of chapter 20, John assures us Jesus will come as a judge:

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beastor his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

-- Revelation 20:4

And by what are we judged, even those that have believed in Jesus as their Savior and followed His teachings? John tells us:

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

-- Revelation 20:12-13

"I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil."

-- Revelation 2:2

So if we are judged, and found worthy in our Lord's eyes, what then? We received entry to heaven for our belief in Christ and adherence to His way, so what do we gain from this final judgment? Again, the scriptures answer:

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

-- Colossians 3:23-24

"The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth."

-- Revelation 11:18

"Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

-- Matthew 5:12

As those trying our utmost to live our lives for Christ, to follow the path He laid, we can only study so as to learn from His teachings and the words of His disciples, and await His return to take His Kingdom and redeem His children. But in the meantime, we can follow His directives to go into the world and repeat His message, to bring others to His throne, and to do good works.

"And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work."

-- Revelation 22:12

Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad.

He Strengthens Me

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
-- Philippians 4:13

Sometimes life just gets us down. Many of us go through periods when the troubles and woes of the world weigh so heavily upon our shoulders that we wonder how much more we can stand, not knowing where we might find that little extra courage to face another day, that little boost to get over the next hump. During those stretches, that can go for weeks, months, or even years without a true break, it is all we can do just to climb out of bed every morning. In the past during such lows, I always took some small measure of relief from the words of the Psalmist:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills --
From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
-- Psalm 121:1-2

This passage always comforted me, for it does not say that I go to the Lord for help. No, it says that my help comes from the Lord. My gracious Savior comes to me in my time of need and helps me. I only have to go to Him in prayer, then He comes to my aid. How moving is this thought, that the Creator of all would come to me, one of His many children, a sinner, a small sheep lost and confused? My help comes from the Lord. This became my mantra, an oft repeated phrase, when times got roughest.

Until recently, when my dearest friend presented me with a most wonderful gift - a lovingly used New Testament Bible. This pocket Bible had been presented to her earthly father many years ago, shortly before he departed this life to go be with his heavenly Father. This was a man who I happen to share a good bit in common with, including love of our Father and a deep compelling drive to learn more about Him and our own purposes in life. My friend could give me no better gift than this precious piece of her father, one which he carefully annotated with notes, thoughts, and the highlighting of meaningful verses. His favorite is the subject of this particular missive -- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I now cherish this small Bible and this verse, which I have also adopted as my own.

So now, during the darkest of days when the world crushes me with each turn, I can take comfort in knowing that my Lord and Savior not only comes to me and brings me help, He also strengthens me when I have no strength left. Through Him, I can survive. Through Him, I can rise from my bed and face another day. Through Him, I can do all things, for He gives me strength.

When I think I can go no further I look to heaven, for my help comes from the Lord who strengthens me.

Learn, Share, Teach

Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
-- 2 Timothy 2:7

As we close out 2006, many of us make resolutions for the coming year, usually to improve some aspect of our physical appearance, our general conduct, or our behavior. Our good brother and Pastor John has given my fellow congregants a challenge: to attend Sunday School as well as the regular worship service as many Sundays as we possibly can. This correspondent has accepted his challenge and hopes all of you, my kind readers, will join me if you don't already attend as many worship and learning services as possible, including any held weekday evenings, such as Bible studies and prayer and inspiration sessions.

Our longing to be reunited with God often compels us to want to learn more and more, as much as humanly possible, about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Father. The Bible is the best source of knowledge and history, but we can also gain helpful insights from our fellow sojourners in this life. You may be surprised at how much someone you share a pew with each Sunday morning knows about certain events during those times Christ walked among us, or the interesting angle and background they can provide. We can all gain more information, and we all have something we can impart for others.

The old saying, "You learn something new every day!", still holds true. How many times have you heard someone say, or said yourself, "I never knew that" or "I didn't realize that" or "I never looked at it quite that way"? We've heard those words, or similar phrases, a number of times the last few weeks in my Sunday School class, and we aren't exactly spring chickens any more. No matter the subject, there is always someone more knowledgeable than ourselves, there is always someone with a slightly different viewpoint, there is always someone with an experience we have not had. We learn from each of these, and by sharing, we help others learn.

So join us Sundays and Wednesdays and any other day some opportunity presents itself to gain a better understanding of our Savior and thus build a more fulfilling relationship with God. Come to learn, come to share, and come to teach.

Rejoice and Pray

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
-- I Thessalonians 5:16-18

As I write this, we recently celebrated the birth of Jesus. But first we observed the annual Advent season, where we anxiously awaited that wonderful day when our Savior came down to earth to walk among us. Some of us may look at the weeks leading up to Christmas as a mere formality, another season of observance on the Christian calendar, simply a prelude to what is to come. We know how the story goes: how the angel appeared to Mary, and later to Joseph; how they traveled to Bethlehem for the census; how they could find no room at the inn and were forced to seek shelter in a lowly stable; how the heavenly Babe was born, wrapped in cloths, and laid in a cattle manger; how the shepherds and then the wise men visited and paid homage; how the angels sang. We know the story, and celebrate the joyous day each year.

One of the meanings of the word Advent (with a capital "A") is "the coming of Christ into the world", and that is why we observe the season of Advent. But there is another chapter of the story, and we know it as well although we have not yet celebrated it. For there will be one more Advent, one more time when Jesus Christ will come to earth and walk among us. The first Advent heralded the Messiah, come to offer mankind a path to salvation. This time He will come as our King. He will reward His faithful and punish evil. This second coming, this second Advent, is the one we look forward to with all that is within us. For it will usher in the thousand year reign of Christ the King, a millennium of true and lasting peace on earth. We long to see the face of Jesus; we feel we know Him from the witnesses of the Gospels. We truly anxiously await the second Advent.

Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, offers us instruction on what to do while we wait. In other writings, he admonished us, all of us, to be steadfast in our faith, and to grow our faith. He tells us to become even closer to Christ, to seek out the company of other believers and draw strength and support from them, to encourage others to know and believe in the one true God and his risen Son. Here he provides insight into a few activities we can participate in to gain a closer relationship with Jesus. While we await His coming, we should rejoice in Christ our Savior. We should pray to Him and His Father with every breath we take. We should give thanks to God for everything that He gives to us, for our Salvation, for His Son, for everything. Paul tells us this is what Jesus want us to do. And how would Paul know? Because Paul knew Jesus personally, he spent three years with Him, following Him, listening to Him, learning from Him. And Paul blessed us by recording everything he knew about Jesus, so that we can know Him as well. Through God's great grace through His servant Paul, we know the rest of the story, and we know what we must do while we wait to see the face of our Christ.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in all things give thanks. For Christ is coming to earth again. Amen.

And on Earth Peace

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
goodwill toward men!”

-- Luke 2:1-14