What's In a Name?

[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 24th of April, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Our modern culture sure does try to put limits on religion, and it seems especially the practice of Christian religion.  For instance, just about every governmental entity has completely banned prayer, such as before a Commissioners’ meeting or a high school football game.  Even those that do still allow someone to pray forbid them from mentioning the name “Jesus”, either in their prayer or any remarks leading up to it.  They will allow phrases like “the God of all that exists” or “the Creator of the universe” or “the all-powerful being”.  But the word “Jesus” is a big no-no.

This even extends into non-governmental public events, like professional basketball games and recognition celebrations and some political conventions and rallies.  The conventional wisdom has it that someone may be offended if their personal brand of religion is not represented along with the Christian Jesus.  It no longer matters that this country was founded upon solid Christian principles by good Christian people.  There’s too much of a mix today, and we can’t afford to offend anyone.

Of course, none of that applies, or should apply, to the church and our worship services, whether within these walls or outside them.  How many times have you heard me say something like “we come together in the name of Jesus” or “in the name of Jesus we pray”?  Well, there’s a very good reason for that.  Listen and follow along as I read to you from the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 18 verses 18 through 20, from the New King James Version…

18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

--Matthew 18:18-20 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, open our ears, our minds, and our hearts to Your words this morning.  Impress upon us Your message, Lord, that will carry us through the week ahead.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A burglar broke into a house one night.  As he was rifling through the residence looking for valuables to steal, he heard a voice from the darkness saying, "Jesus is watching you".  He almost had a heart attack on the spot!  He stopped and looked around, but seeing nothing he shook off his fear and went back to thieving.  Suddenly, just as before, the voice spoke again: "Jesus is watching you."  He began trembling so much he could hardly contain any composure.  He finally approached the corner of a room and there was a bird cage with the cover over it.  Those chilling words came from the cage: "Jesus is watching you".  The thief pulled off the cover and saw… a parrot.  He growled in an angry voice, "What is your name?"  The parrot answered, "Moses."  The burglar scoffed, "What kind of weird person would name a parrot ‘Moses’?"  The parrot replied, "The same kind of person that would name a Rottweiler 'Jesus'."


You can’t say the parrot didn’t try to warn the burglar.  Sometimes we can really get ourselves into serious trouble by not paying attention.  If the thief had paid attention to Moses the parrot, he would have known that not only was Jesus our Lord watching his every move, but also that fur-covered razor blade, Jesus the Rottweiler, had his eye on what was going on, too.  I doubt this had a happy ending for the burglar.


Had you been paying attention and could remember back to early March, while we observed Lent by examining the letters our Lord Jesus addressed to the seven churches in Asia, I spoke to the children using the same title as I’m using for today’s message: “What’s In a Name?”

During that little talk I quoted from the great William Shakespeare play, “Romeo and Juliet”.  Our title couple were members of opposing families.

Juliet wonders why a family name could have so horribly great an importance when she ponders:  “What's in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...”  And I told the kids that a name is just a tag that we hang on something to identify it by.

And that is true, as far as it goes.  But there is one name above all names, as the Apostle Paul put it.  One name that is far more than just a tag.  One name that existed before time began and will continue long after time runs out.  And that name is Jesus, the most precious, beautiful, powerful name ever known.


The name “Jesus” was fairly common among Jews back in ancient times.  We hardly ever hear it used here in America, I think mainly due to the reverence and importance so many people place on it.  But babies are still given the name Jesus in some parts of the world even to this day.

The name basically means “God saves”, and that is especially fitting when applied to our Lord Jesus.  For it is through Jesus and Jesus alone that our Father God offers us salvation!  It is only by God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice that we can be saved if we believe in Jesus as God’s Son and follow His commands.


Looking again for a moment at our scripture reading this morning, leading up to and in verse 18 Jesus is referring specifically to unrepentant sinners, those who have already left the ways of God and cannot return to His good graces without repenting.  He is saying that if these people fail to repent, they should be removed from the Christian community and will thus be removed from the kingdom of God and will not see heaven.

Jesus continues in verse 19 by instructing us to come to an agreement over the condition of these unrepentant sinners and to pray over them, asking that the Lord might soften their hearts, seeking forgiveness on their behalf.  We are not to ask for judgment against them, but forgiveness for them.

And if two or more of us agree and pray in this manner, then God will hear and do what is asked.  Because, as verse 20 declares, when two or more of us gather in the name of Jesus, He is right there with us.  He is joining us in our request to God.  How could God refuse to answer that prayer?

It is because of verse 20 that I feel this entire passage applies not only to our actions against or on behalf of unrepentant sinners, but in how we approach just about every aspect of church life.  When we invoke the name of Jesus, we are calling upon the most powerful force in the universe to come and sit down beside us, to share in whatever we happen to be doing, to take part in our daily life!  Jesus is so powerful that the mere mention of His name carries the same power!

I believe that the Apostle John provides us the best illustration of this.  Listen to the words that John recorded Jesus saying in the 14th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 13, 14, and 26…

13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

--John 14:13-14, 26 (NASB)

Ask in the name of Jesus and our Lord will make it happen, all to glorify God!  In His name our Father God sent His most Holy Spirit to live within us, to guide us, to help us, to teach us, to be our constant and sure Companion.  It all happens in Jesus’ name!

Now we have to understand that we can’t just ask for anything and Jesus will go “Presto!” and poof it appears.  It has to be meaningful and fit within God’s plan and within His timing.  And above all, we must have faith, the kind of faith that can move mountains.  Nor will Jesus always give us exactly what we ask for, but instead exactly what we need.  But the point is the importance of calling on the name of Jesus, for without that, we get nothing.


If the name of Jesus is such a powerful force in this world and in heaven, who do you suppose would be against it being spoken?  Who stands to lose the most if that name is invoked for any reason?  Satan does.

Lucifer, the devil, absolutely hates the name of Jesus.  His influence rules this earthly realm and he can’t stand it when we call on Jesus.  So he makes sure our opportunities to do so are limited.  Governmental bodies, who impact the earthly lives of so many, forbid the name of Jesus be spoken aloud.  Those who worry about offending anyone are sadly doing Satan’s bidding in this particular instance, even if they think they are doing it for the right reasons.

We, the church, must stay true to Jesus and to His holy name.  Going back to those seven churches in Asia again, in Revelation chapter 2 verse 13, Jesus told the church in Pergamos…

13 “I know that you live where Satan has his throne.  But you have kept true to my name. Right there where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas was taken from you and put to death. Even then you did not give up your faith in me.”

--Revelation 2:13 (CEV)

No matter what Satan does, no matter what it may cost us, we must stay true to the name of Jesus.  We must never give up our faith in Him.


The name of Jesus…  There’s just something about that name.

The name of Richard just doesn’t impart the same significance, does it?  Nor does the name of Clinton or the name of Trump nor the name of any other mortal man or woman.  Buddha didn’t say we could ask anything in his name and we’d get it, neither did Confucius, nor Muhammad.

Only Jesus did.  Only the name of Jesus matters.  And it has mattered to you and to me since long before the beginning of time.  Listen again to what Jesus said as recorded in John’s Gospel account, chapter 15, verse 16…

16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

--John 15:16 (NASB)

We accepted Jesus, but He chose us.  He chose us as His own.  And He chose us before the earth was even created.  He chose us that we might bear fruit, His fruit that will remain forever.  And all to glorify God.


What’s in a name?  If that name is Jesus…  Everything.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, prayer was very important to Jesus while He lived among us as a man.  He would often go off by Himself just to pray to You.  He even taught us how to pray, giving us the words to use as an example.  And He stressed to us just how critical it is to come to You in His name, because He is Your Son.

Father, we try not to ask for meaningless things.  We don’t want to trivialize the name of Jesus nor the great power behind that name.  You heard us come to You earlier, Father, asking for healing and comfort and protection for our loved ones, and we ask in Jesus’ name because this is so important to us.  But Father we also know that Your will must be done, not our will, because You have every detail planned out to work to the good of all those who love You and are called to Your purpose.  Still we ask, Father, in the name of Your beloved Son, that our requests, our pleas fall within Your will.

Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, repenting of our sins against You, asking in the name of Jesus that Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven, crying out our own needs straight from our hearts…

Lord Jesus, Yours is the name above all names.  In You we put our faith.  On Your name we will stand.  Help us to always stay faithful to You, to remain true to Your name.  It is in Your most precious name, dear Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Wholly Holy

[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of April, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Do you consider yourself to be a faithful follower of Jesus, yet sometimes you feel a little lost?  You wonder why so much rottenness and meanness is going on in the world?  You worry that you might be slipping into one of Satan’s traps, or you find that you’ve been suckered into one of his temptations?

I think the greatest fear of many Christians just might be that they don’t deserve God’s love and grace.  That they might mess up so badly, stray so far away from Jesus and His teachings, fail to follow His commandments, that there will be no salvation left in them.  Do you ever feel that nagging, tugging doubt?

Well, I could tell you that it comes from Satan.  Or I could read to you what the Bible says about this and other similar situations and questions.  Listen and follow along as I read to you from the Apostle Paul’s letter to his beloved church in Ephesus, from chapter 1 verses 1 through 14, looking at the New Living Translation of our Bible…

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. 

I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 

9 God has now revealed to us His mysterious will regarding Christ — which is to fulfill His own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ — everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. 

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.

--Ephesians 1:1-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, these words from Your Son’s apostle’s hand bear so great an importance on our lives that we really need to hear and grasp their meaning.  Help us get the message You have for us in these words so we can understand just how dear we are to You.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A seminary professor and his wife were on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN once.  One morning, they stopped for breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet meal together.  While they waited for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking white-haired gentleman moving from table to table, visiting with the diners.  The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn’t come over here."  But sure enough, the man did stop at their table.

"Where are you folks from?", he asked in a friendly voice.  "Oklahoma", they answered.  "Great to have you here in Tennessee", the stranger said.  "What do you do for a living?"  "I teach at a seminary", the professor replied.  "Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you?  Well, I’ve got a really great story for you."  And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple.  The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great... just what I need... another preacher story!"

"See that mountain over there?”, the man asked, pointing out the restaurant window.  “Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother.  He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ’Hey boy, Who’s your daddy?’  Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ’Who’s your daddy?’  He would hide at recess and lunchtime from the other students.  He would avoid going in to stores because that question hurt him so bad.

"When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to the boy’s church.  He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ’Who’s your daddy?’  But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.  Just about the time he got to the door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘Son, who’s your daddy’?

“The whole church got deathly quiet.  The boy could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, ’Who’s your daddy?’

"This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, spoke to that scared little boy:  ‘Wait a minute! I know who you are.  I see the family resemblance now.  You are a child of God.‘  With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance.  Go and claim it.’

"With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long while and walked out the door a changed person.  He was never the same again.  Whenever anybody asked him, ’Who’s your Daddy?’, he’d just tell them, ’I’m a Child of God.’"

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn’t that a great story?"  The professor responded that it really was a great story!  As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!"  And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned.  He called the waitress over and asked her, "Do you know who that man was who just left that was sitting at our table?"  The waitress grinned and said, "Of course.  Everybody here knows him.  That’s Ben Hooper.  He’s the former governor of Tennessee!"


We are children of God!  Paul proclaimed this in his letter to the Ephesians.  In verse 4 of today’s scripture he says that God adopted us into His own family, making us one of His own, through Jesus Christ!  He chose us to be His even before He created the world, and He chose us to be holy and without fault.

We are God’s precious children.  Can anyone looking at us see the family resemblance?


How many of us would consider ourselves holy?  That’s a word we usually associate with God and His three persons, the Holy Trinity.  We might even use the word when talking about His saints or the great martyrs throughout history.  But does it apply to us?

The word "holy" is defined as “dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion”.  Originally, the word meant “that which must be preserved whole or intact”.

Dedicated to the service of God.  Devoted to His Son’s church.  Something to be preserved and maintained whole and intact.  Does that describe any of us?

And as long as we’re playing name games, what about the word “sanctified”?  That sounds almost like that word “saint”, doesn’t it.  One definition of a saint could be a person who exhibits an exceptionally high degree of holiness, or likeness to God.  A saint could also said to be one who has been sanctified.  The word “sanctify” simply means to be “set apart”, to be separated from a larger group, to be dedicated to a specific purpose.

See how all of this wraps together?  To be holy is to be dedicated to God, set apart and devoted to His service, growing in His likeness.  So I’ll ask again…  How many of us consider ourselves holy?


Remember those words: God chose us to be holy, to be His holy people.  Paul encourages this calling in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 12 verse 1, when he implores…

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

--Romans 12:1 (NLT)

This is important to Paul, and he repeats it often.  But the apostle stresses that this calling is from God Himself, not from Paul.  Paul is merely the messenger, as in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4 verses 7 and 8…

7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 8 Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

--1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 (NLT)

And there’s an added kicker: if we refuse to live a holy life, we are not simply disobeying man’s laws, we are disobeying God!  We are rejecting God outright when we refuse the Holy Spirit and His guidance to holy and righteous living.

Let me give just one more instance of Paul’s encouragement to holiness.  In his 2nd letter to his young friend and protégé Timothy, chapter 1 verses 9 and 10, Paul explains…

9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time — to show us His grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now He has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.

--2 Timothy 1:9-10 (NLT)

God saved us, not because we deserved it, but because it was His plan all along – to show His great grace through His Son Jesus.  Jesus conquered death and laid the path for us that leads to everlasting life in heaven.  Jesus showed us how to be holy, through His service to His Father God.

The author of the Book of Hebrews, in chapter 10 verse 10, gives a little more clarification of this concept…

10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

--Hebrews 10:10 (NLT)

By Jesus’ sacrifice, we were made holy.  The question is, did we stay that way?  Are we truly devoted to God?  Are we dedicated in serving Him and in serving His people?  Have we set ourselves apart from the world and its lust for physical things and earthly pleasures, instead keeping ourselves intact for God, keeping our eyes on heaven, keeping our focus on Jesus?  Do we make of ourselves a living and holy sacrifice to God by our service, obeying His rules and following His Holy Spirit?  Do we daily follow the path that Jesus blazed for us?  Do we worship God each and every day by how we live our lives, or just a couple hours on Sundays?

Paul isn’t the only Apostle who thought this important.  Listen to what the Apostle Peter had to say on the subject, in his 1st letter, chapter 1 verses 15 and 16…

15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

--1 Peter 1:15-16 (NLT)

We must be holy in everything we do.  Everything!  Not just the few hours each week we are doing stuff at or for the church.  Not just whenever we think someone is watching.  Not just when we’re feeling a little guilty for something we did or didn’t do.  Not just when we happen to have plenty of spare time and there are no other activities that sound more inviting.  Not just when the weather is nice and none of our body parts are hurting too terribly much.

We must be holy – dedicated to God – in everything we do, every second of the day, every day of the week, every week of the year, every year of our mortal life.  We must be holy because God – the Father who made us, Jesus who sacrificed Himself for us, the Spirit who guides us – God is holy.


We are God’s chosen children, precious in His sight.  Take time to be holy, in everything we do.  Let us sanctify ourselves, set ourselves apart for service devoted fully to God.  Let us be wholly holy.  Because God is holy.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You chose us to be Your beloved children long before You even created the universe.  You love us so much You gave Your Son to be a sacrifice for us, to cleanse us of our sin so that we might be holy and righteous in Your sight.  You sanctified us by the blood of Your Son to grant us eternal life in heaven by Your great and awesome grace.  And now, Father, it is up to us to be holy in everything we do, to stay holy throughout each day, no matter what tribulations await us.

Hear us now, Father, as we pray from our hearts in the silence, repenting of our disobedience, begging for Your forgiveness, dedicating ourselves once again to Your service…

Lord Jesus, You gave so much for us.  And You also set the example for us of what true holiness looks like.  Help us be more like You, please Jesus.  Help us be holy in everything we do in our daily lives.  Help us be holy because You are holy.  In Your dearest name, precious Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

New Life

[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of April, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We know the story.  Christ died on the cross for us, to free us from the chains of sin and death.  God the Father raised His Son from the grave so we could also share in that resurrection.

Baptism can represent our dying and being resurrected with and in Christ.  But beyond that, what does the Easter story really mean to us?  What implications do Christ’s death and resurrection hold for us who call ourselves Christian?  Are we supposed to do something now, or just wait for the next Christian holiday to roll around on the calendar?

What does our Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth users guide say on this (that’s BIBLE, for short)?  Listen and follow along as I read to you from the Contemporary English Version of our Bible, from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, chapter 2 verse 20 through chapter 3 verse 11…

2:20 You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe don’t have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as, 21 “Don’t handle this. Don’t taste that. Don’t touch this.”? 22 After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up? 23 Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don’t really have any power over our desires.

3:1 You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. 2 Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. 3 You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, Who sits beside God. 4 Christ gives meaning to your life, and when He appears, you will also appear with Him in glory.

5 Don’t be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don’t be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don’t be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols. 6 God is angry with people who disobey Him by doing these things. 7 And that is exactly what you did, when you lived among people who behaved in this way. 8 But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others. 9 And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.

10 Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand Him better. 11 It doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.

--Colossians 2:20-3:11 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, when we pause to ponder the awesome message of the cross, we can’t help but wonder how we are supposed to respond.  We can never repay what Jesus did for us, so we sometimes seem confused as to what we should do to show our appreciation.  But You tell us, Lord, that it’s all pretty easy:  we are simply to follow Your Son Jesus and become more like Him each day.  Help us do just that, dear Lord, and beginning right now.  Help us hear the message You have for us this day so we can understand that process.  In the blessed name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


How many of you remember Spud Webb?  In the NBA where the average height is around 6’ 9”, at 5’ 6” Spud was more like Zacchaeus - too short to see over the crowd.  Yet Spud played for 9 years in the NBA.  Despite a successful high school career, no major college offered him a scholarship. So Spud attended the little two-year Midland College and helped lead his team to a national junior college championship.  North Carolina State  University decided to give him a chance and he led the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament Sweet 16.  When he graduated from college, nobody in the NBA wanted to even give Spud a look.  He did okay in college but the conventional wisdom had it that he would get killed in the NBA.  Finally, the Atlanta Hawks gave him the opportunity to play.  In his first four seasons with Atlanta, the Hawks went to the playoffs four times.

Perhaps one of the greatest moments in Spud Webb’s career came on February 8, 1986 at the annual NBA All-Stars Slam-Dunk Contest. Competing against players who were over a foot taller than he was, when the Slam Dunk Championship ended, the shortest guy on the court - Spud Webb at 5’ 6” - was the winner.

Spud gave this testimony: “I used to pray that the Lord would make me bigger when I was in Junior High School and Senior High, but every time I went to measure myself or to stand in front of the mirror, I’d always be the same size.  And then one day I got the message, so I said to the Lord. “If you won’t make me bigger on the outside, will you make me bigger on the inside?  And the Lord liked that prayer, and that’s what he’s helped me become.”


I like how Spud put it:  “One day I got the message”.  Then he prayed, not to be made bigger on the outside, physically.  But to be made bigger on the inside, spiritually.  And the Lord liked that prayer.

Are we praying for outside, physical things to make our life better?  Or inside, spiritual improvement?  Does God like our prayers?


Earlier I called our Bible our Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  That’s just a clever phrase somewhat came up with to make the acronym B.I.B.L.E.  But it really is our users guide, our set of basic instructions.  And if we ever get stuck with what we should do next, we can find the answer there in its pages.

We just completed a long journey through Lent, including a parade into Jerusalem and a horrible stop at the cross before coming to an empty tomb that once held the body of Jesus.  The angel told us He is risen!  He appeared in front of His Disciples on more than one occasion, even behind locked doors.  All in all, over 500 people witnessed the risen Jesus, after He had been declared dead and sealed in that tomb!

And the first thing the Apostle Paul tells us in our scripture reading this morning is that we died with Christ!  We . died . with . Christ, there on that cross.  We were buried in the tomb with Him.  We arose again from the dead with Him.  And now, all the forces of the universe no longer have any power over us!

Wow!  Now we don’t have to worry about going out and playing golf during a thunderstorm and holding our putter up, do we.

Well, that’s not exactly what Paul means here.  Although he goes into more detail a little later, Paul’s opening comments are all about new life, not death.  Those forces that no longer have power over us are the forces of darkness and evil.  We are no longer captives to death, slaves to sin.

Satan may try his best to trip us up and make us fall, but if we keep our trust in Jesus it will all work out for our good in the end.  And Paul says why in the 1st verse of chapter 3.  For we have been raised to life with Christ.  Just as He was raised from the grave, we have been raised into a new life with Him, through Him, alongside Him.

We died, not physically, but to our sins.  That was the old self, the old life, and we have to put it completely behind us.  Paul says we must now set our hearts on what is in heaven.  And what is in heaven is Jesus, sitting there at God’s right hand, ready to judge all the world when the time is complete to do so.  We are to focus on Jesus, not on the things of this earth.

We are to let Christ give meaning to our lives - not material things that we can acquire, not what other people think of us, not our political affiliation, not even what church we go to.  If we focus on Jesus, everything else will fall in place.  We won’t be so concerned with material gain or wealth or success.  We’ll care more about how the hungry might be fed, how the naked might be clothed, how the thirsty might be given something clean and safe to drink.

If we center our thoughts and lives on Jesus, we can control our bodies rather than letting the flesh control us.  Jesus will help us kill every desire for the wrong things, for the lusts of the body and immoral, indecent, and evil thoughts.  When we follow His command to love, greed will no longer be a concern because we will want to give as much as we can to help others.

Behaviors like these anger God, just like we angered God when we acted that way in our old life.  But we need to put all that behind us and stop doing those kinds of things.  Our new life, our new opportunity, demands that we quit being angry, hateful, and evil.  We must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.  And we must stop lying to each other.

Yes, those are all tough to do, but we can do it with Christ’s help.  And we must do it because we are now a new person.  The old person died with Jesus.  It was buried there in the tomb.  The new person rose with Him out of the grave.  This is our new life.  If we truly accept it, then we must give up our old way of life and our old habits.


Paul concludes that each one of us is now a new person.  But the full change is not necessarily immediate.  Even Paul admitted that he was still maturing in his faith.  In his letter to the Philippians, chapter 3 verse 12, Paul concedes that…

12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

--Philippians 3:12 (NKJV)

Like Paul, we need to press on, to lay hold of Jesus and never let go.  Notice in verse 10 our today’s reading that Paul says we are becoming more and more like our Creator.  We can never be completely like Jesus, but we can become more and more like Him, maturing spiritually every day.  And in that process we gain a greater understanding of Him and His ways, of God’s will for us and for His creation.  We build a closer relationship with Jesus.  We become more like Him.  We understand Him better.


But first we have to put the old life behind us.  Jesus has given us another chance.  Just like the trees and the flowers show signs of newness every spring, just as the earth is renewed each year, we too have been given new life.  It’s available to us every day, every year.  It doesn’t matter who we are, what we do, where we came from, who our parents were, in what place we were born.

The only thing that matters is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and He lives in each of us.  Take hold of Him and the new life He offers.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, it is so easy for us to fall prey to Satan and his traps and temptations.  He trips us and we slip right back into that old life we thought we left behind.  And then we pick up our old habits and do those things You hate so much.  We disobey You.  We give in to the flesh and its desires.  We treat others with hostility and cruelty.  We react with anger when we should be loving and forgiving and seeking peace.  Help us, Father, to remember what You so generously offer: Your great grace that will free us from these chains of sin.

Hear us now, Father, as we come before You in the silence, repenting of our old, disobedient ways, and asking for Your forgiveness…

Christ Jesus, You give us the chance to truly die with You, leaving our sins, our old life, in the tomb and rising with You into the light of a brand new life, free of the shackles of sin and death that now bind us.  Help us, please Lord, to become more and more like You – more loving, quick to forgive, ready to serve.  Help us grow closer to You so that we might better understand our Father’s will for us.  Help us be bigger on the inside.  In Your glorious name, Lord Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

We're Not Worthy

[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 3rd of April, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

[This message references the song, “East to West”, by Casting Crowns.]


Around two years ago, when I was still a candidate to be your pastor, your search committee listened to a recording of one of my sermons.  A month or so back, one of the members of that committee told me that they would really like for me to give that message here, for my Pilgrim family.  And I thought this would be an appropriate time to do so, even if a slightly abbreviated version, for that message is all about being worthy.

Over the last two weeks we’ve looked at the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross, and how God resurrected Him from the grave.  Jesus took the punishment we deserved, defeated death just so we would not have to suffer death for eternity.  We have done nothing, we could never do anything, worthy of that sacrifice.  Fortunately for us, God has a plan.

Listen and follow along as I read to you from the Contemporary English Version of our Bible, from the Book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 10 through 18…

10 So we are made holy because Christ obeyed God and offered himself once for all. 

11 The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God’s right side, 13 and he will stay there until his enemies are put under his power. 14 By his one sacrifice he has forever set free from sin the people he brings to God. 

15 The Holy Spirit also speaks of this by telling us that the Lord said, 

16 “When the time comes,
I will make an agreement
with them.
I will write my laws
on their minds and hearts. 

17 Then I will forget
about their sins
and no longer remember
their evil deeds.” 

18 When sins are forgiven, there is no more need to offer sacrifices.

--Hebrews 10:10-18 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, I am but Your servant, trying to provide a voice for Your words.  Please speak through me, Lord, the message You want Your children to hear.  Lessen me, please Father, that we all might better see Your Son Jesus.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


How many of you remember Wayne and Garth?  They were characters played by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in Saturday Night Live skits and in the movie “Wayne’s World”.  Whenever they’d meet a celebrity, such as Alice Cooper in the movie, they’d bow down and chant over and over, “We’re not worthy!  We’re not worthy!”  Well, when it comes to God and His magnificent grace, we certainly aren’t worthy.


“Worthy” is defined as “having sufficient or great merit, character, or value; being deserving”.  Are we deserving of God’s grace?  Is there some great merit or character or value about us that makes us deserving of His great love?

The prophet Isaiah certainly didn’t consider himself worthy.  Listen to what he says in the 6th chapter of his book, verses 1 through 7…

1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with His glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

--Isaiah 6:1-7 (NLT)

Do you remember how the Apostle John often describes himself in his Gospel account?  He refers to himself as the one whom Jesus loved.  Surely he is worthy, right?  Listen to what he says when Jesus first revealed Himself in the Book of Revelation, chapter 1, verses 17 and 18…

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look — I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

--Revelation 1:17-18 (NLT)

So just who might be worthy?  Are any of us?  Can any mortal man be worthy?  Listen to what John recorded a little further on in Revelation, in chapter 5 verses 4, 5, and 9…

4 Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. 5 But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

9 And they sang a new song with these words:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and break its seals and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has
ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people
and nation."

--Revelation 5:4-5, 9 (NLT)

If only Jesus is worthy to open the sealed book, to stand before God, then we mere humans are all doomed, right!?!  Ah, but remember what the angel, the winged seraphim, told Isaiah.  “Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

Our sins are forgiven.  King David put it like this, in verses 11 through 13 of his 103rd Psalm…

11 For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him
is as great as the height of the heavens above
the earth.

12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.

--Psalm 103:11-13 (NLT)

If you listened to the song I had the guys play before the start of our service, those words of David will sound familiar.  We are speaking to God in that song and we say:  “I know You’ve cast my sin as far as the east is from the west,  and I stand before You now as though I’ve never sinned.”  But then Satan pokes us and doubt  starts creeping in and we fear it all might change:  “But today I feel like I’m just one step away from You leaving me this way.”  God speaks to us through the prophet Jeremiah to calm those fears, in chapter 31 verses 31 through 34…

31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put My instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know Me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

--Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NLT)

The author of the Book of Hebrews quoted part of this in our reading this morning.  The new covenant Jeremiah speaks of is Jesus, a covenant sealed by His blood shed for us.  A covenant written upon the cross, from one scarred hand to the other.

God makes two promises here, to not only forgive our sins but to forget they ever happened.  He will forget on purpose.  He has decided not to remember how badly we acted against Him.

But with that promise and that covenant comes a responsibility on our part.  We make a promise of our own, and we do it each time we pray as Jesus taught us:  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  If we are to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive.  And really, forgiving is for our benefit.  It takes away the burden of anger and resentment and bitterness that we carry around when we continue to hold a grudge.

Oh, and this includes being ready and willing to forgive ourselves.  When we’ve done something truly terrible, it’s easy to believe no one could ever forgive us, especially not God.  We think we’re not worthy of His forgiveness.

Well, family, I hate to say it, but… we are NOT!  Only Jesus is worthy.  We’re not worthy and we can never be worthy, not on our own!

But the Good News - the Gospel - is that we don’t have to be worthy!   By God’s great love and grace and the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, we are washed clean of our sin.  We are justified and made worthy by the blood of Jesus, shed for us!  Our sin is forgiven AND forgotten!


No matter what we’ve done, when we repent, seek God’s forgiveness, and follow His Son Jesus, He will wash us clean and turn our darkness into Light.  This is how much Jesus does for us, how much He loves us.  As far as the east is from the west.  From one scarred hand to the other.


We will be sharing Holy Communion with our Lord in a few moments.  The Apostle Paul cautions us not to come to the Lord’s table if our heart is not right with God.  If we just believe in Jesus, accept Him as our one true Lord and Master, promise to follow His commands, and repent of our sin against God, He will forgive and forget those sins.  And we will be made right with Him.  For He loves us just as far as the east is from the west.  From one scarred hand to the other.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, we are not worthy.  We’re not worthy of Your love.  We’re not worthy of Your Son’s sacrifice.  But by Your great grace and by that selfless act of Jesus, You not only forgive us of our sins, but You forget they ever happened!  We are washed clean of our sin by the blood of our Savior!

Hear us now, Father, as we come before You with bowed heads and humbled hearts, repenting of our sinful ways and dedicating ourselves to our Lord Jesus…

Christ Jesus, You took our punishment.  You bore our stripes.  You died so that we might never experience eternal death.  We’re not worthy, Lord.  Thank You for loving us anyway, for loving us as far as the east is from the west, from one scarred hand to the other.  In Your precious name, dear Jesus, we pray.  Amen.



[Holy Communion with our Lord followed in the service.]