What Are We?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 8th of August, 2014, at "the little white church" in Blowing Rock, NC during our weekend retreat at the Blowing Rock Conference Center.]

We’ve come onto this mountain this weekend as a retreat, a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life for a few days and maybe get a little closer to our God.  This idea of getting closer to God by going onto a mountain top is nothing new.  Our Old Testament is filled with accounts and stories of people doing just that, and of altars and shrines and temples being built on “the high places”.  Even Jesus often went into the mountains when He wanted to spend a little personal time with His Father.  Perhaps one of His more better known sermons was delivered on a mountainside, according to the Gospel account of Matthew (although it is very similar to a sermon Luke reports that Jesus delivered on a plain).

This evening, while we are here on this mountainside, I’d like to examine part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Hear the words of our Lord Jesus that Matthew saved for us in his Gospel, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16…

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 

14 “You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

-- Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV)

Let us pray...  Father, we’ve come to this mountain to try to get a little closer to You.  We know this is not necessary, because You are already in our hearts.  But it does help us to meditate more on Your word when we escape for a time from the busyness of life.  Lord God, please open our ears to hear Your word, our hearts to receive Your message.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

A candidate for church membership was asked, “What part of the Bible do you like best?”  He responded, “I like the New Testament best.”  Then he was asked, “What book in the New Testament is your favorite?”  He answered, “The Book of the Parables”.  Then they asked him to relate one of the parables to the membership committee.  A bit uncertain of himself, he began…

“Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and the thorns grew up and choked the man.  And he went on and met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man a thousand talents of silver, and a hundred changes of raiment.  And he got in his chariot and drove furiously, and as he was driving under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging there!  And he hung there many days and many nights.  The ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink.  And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he fell on stoney ground.  And it began to rain, and rained forty days and forty nights.  And he hid himself in a cave.  Later he went on and met a man who said, ‘Come in and take supper with me.’  But he said, ‘I can’t come in, for I have married a wife.’  And the man went out into the highways and hedges and compelled him to come in!  He then came to Jerusalem, and saw Queen Jezebel sitting high and lifted up in a window of the wall.  When she saw him she laughed, and he said, ‘Throw her down out of there.’, and they threw her down.  And he said, ‘Throw her down again.’, and they threw her down seventy times seven.  And the fragments which they picked up filled twelve baskets full!  NOW, whose wife will she be in the day of the Judgement?”

The membership committee agreed that this was indeed a knowledgeable candidate and approved his application.

OK, so I just had to tell that amusingly convoluted story even though it has little to do with our message tonight.  But as funny as it seems, that tale illustrates a sad and sobering truth: Americans today are effectively Biblically illiterate.  According to a Gallop poll a number of years back, only 4 in 10 Americans knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, which does tie in with our message.  And as our little story indicates, many Christians may not know the Bible as well as they think they do.  We won’t dwell on that sad statistic, but just in case anyone is wondering, Jesus delivered what we call the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus says we are the salt of the earth.  Salt: I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I could get by too long without salt.  I salt everything, almost everything, usually without tasting first.  Some processed foods and most oriental food has enough salt thrown in that I don’t need to add more.  But I can’t even contemplate eating potatoes without salt (and pepper, but Jesus never compared us to pepper so we won’t talk about that).  My daughter, on the other hand, hardly salts anything.  She has this little bitty salt shaker in her kitchen, I have a couple fairly large ones and the box of salt nearby.

We might think of salt as just some inexpensive seasoning for our food, something to throw over our shoulder if we knock the shaker over.  But salt was considered very important in Bible times.  In fact, it had a place of honor in many religious observations and rituals.  For instance, in Exodus chapter 30 verses 34 and 35 we read…

34 And the Lord said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

-- Exodus 30:34-35  (NKJV)

And in Leviticus chapter 2 verse 13, salt is a required ingredient…

13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

-- Leviticus 2:13  (NKJV)

So I think it’s pretty safe to say that salt was as important in Biblical times as it is to me today, if not more so.  So when Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, He must think us pretty important to the world.  Now we need to keep in mind that Jesus was speaking directly to his disciples in this sermon.  But aren’t we also His disciples, just removed in time a little?  A disciple, at its core, is simply a follower, one who follows to learn and to serve.  So yes, He was also talking directly to us, to you and I, when He spoke these words.

But then He immediately cautions us with a question:  What good is salt if it loses its flavor?  I know that salt can go stale enough that it no longer has that salty flavor, although that never happens around my house.  What do you do when that happens?  Can you add salt to stale salt to make it salty again?  Jesus says it’s good for nothing but to be walked on, to be used on a path perhaps.

Since He’s talking to us, comparing us to that holy and important seasoning, we need to figure out how we might become so stale that we’re no longer fit for anything but to be paving material.  Have you ever had a season in your life when your zeal for our Lord wasn’t what it used to be?  Or maybe you’ve wrestled with tithing or helping others or doing good works.  Now we know that none of those will buy us salvation - only our belief and faith in Christ can do that.  But in chapter 2 verses 14 through 17 of his book, James tells us that faith without works is dead.  So could we say that if our faith is dead, it is probably too stale to be good for anything?

I don’t think any of us here are at risk of becoming stale.  Otherwise we wouldn’t be here this evening.  But we need to make sure we keep our faith fresh and flavorful!  We can do that by spending more time with Jesus, in prayer and by reading and studying His life and His words.  We can do as much as we financially, physically, and emotionally can to help others, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the prisoners.  And if you’re wondering about that reference, go back and read Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46.

Jesus goes on to say we are the light of the world.  Now that is high praise indeed.  Do you remember one of the ways Jesus described Himself?  From the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to the Apostle John, verse 12…

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

-- John 8:12  (NKJV)

Jesus is the Light of the world, yet He calls us by that same name.  We are the light now.  He has gone to be with the Father, but the light has not gone out from the world.  We are that light.  And just as a city that is set on a hillside cannot be hidden from view, the light of the entire world should certainly not be hidden.  It should not be closed off in some small container, but allowed to cast its beams throughout the area so that all can see.

A number of politicians over the years have declared America to be that city on the hill Jesus refers to.  Ronald Reagan is perhaps the most widely recognized for referring to America as a “shining city on a hill”.  The idea is that we, as a nation, offer a beacon of hope to the entire world.  Hope for a better life, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for themselves and their families.  While there is a good bit of truth to that, maybe not as much today as when Reagan was President, we all know that our only hope is in Jesus, the true Light of the world.

But in this part of His sermon, Jesus is handing this responsibility over to us, His disciples.  We are to help others find that true hope, we are to show them the beacon of Jesus.  The Apostle John may have described this role best, in the opening chapter of his Gospel, verses 6 through 9…

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

-- John 1:6-9  (NKJV)

As the light of the world, we are to bear witness to the true Light of the world, to Jesus.  Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, we should reflect the Light of the Son.

Back to the last part of our sermon text, where does Jesus say we should shine our light?  Before men.  Where are men?  In the world.  Why should we shine our light in the world?  So that others might take notice of our good works.  Oh, OK, then Jesus wants us to shine our light so others can see all our good works and think what great folks we are, right?  Wrong!  We are to do so to glorify God.  In all we do, we must make sure all the glory goes to the Father, not to us.  By humble service, by selfless acts, by not caring about receiving any rewards or praise, we glorify God before men.  We need to shine our light for all the world to see.  Let them see the glory of God.

You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.

Be flavorful and shine on.

Amen.

Let us pray…    Dearest Lord Jesus, we know that You love us so much that You were willing to take a beating and die for us, to take all of our sins upon Yourself and carry them to the grave for us, to defeat death so that we might live forever with You.  And now, Lord, we see that You think us as important and even holy as salt, so very important in God’s great plan that You have given us the role You once held Yourself: as a light to the world.  Jesus, please help us reflect Your light into a dark world.  Help us remain flavorful and zealous in our faith.  Help us constantly and courageously stand as witnesses to You so that we might serve to glorify God our Father.  Christ Jesus, in Your beautiful name we pray.  Amen.

Where Is God?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 27th of July, 2014.]

Our message text today comes from the Apostle Paul’s sermon to the Areopagus in Athens, as recorded by Luke in his Book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 24 through 31…

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

--Acts 17:24-31 (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, sometimes when we seek Your face, we can’t help but wonder where You are.  We come before You today in the name of Jesus Christ to examine that question, and to look at why we would even ask it.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.   In the sweet name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A pastor phoned the home of some recent visitors to his church.  A voice on the other end of the phone answered with a whispered “Hello”.  The pastor asked, “Who is this?”  The whispered voice said, “Jimmy”.  The pastor asked, “How old are you, Jimmy?”  The voice replied, “Four”.  The pastor then asked, “Jimmy, can I please speak to your Mom?”  “She’s busy”, Jimmy answered.  “Then can I please speak to your Dad?”  “He’s busy.”  “Are there any other adults in your home?”  “The police.”  “Then let me speak to one of the police officers.”  “They’re busy.”  “Jimmy, who else is there?”  “Firemen.”  “Well, can you put one of the firemen on the phone?”  “They’re busy.”  “Jimmy, what are they all so busy doing?”  “They’re all busy looking for me!”


Like little Jimmy, many people spend a lot of time hiding.  They’re hiding from parents and police.  They’re hiding from bosses and spouses.  They’re hiding from the things they don’t want to do.  And in too many instances, they’re hiding from God, or at least trying to.

So why do we hide?  Because we’ve done something wrong?  Because we’re trying to avoid something, or someone?  Because we think we can get away with it?

But Paul tells us in verse 27 that God is not far off.  In fact, Paul says in verse 28 that it is in God that we live and move and exist.  In God we live and exist.  In God we move, we are animated.

Paul was not really saying anything new.  The prophet Jeremiah, giving God voice, made this declaration long before Paul came on the scene.  In his book, chapter 23, verses 23 through 24, Jeremiah tells us…

23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

--Jeremiah 23:23-24 (NASB)

See?  I’m not the only one who asks a lot of questions.

God declares He is not far off, but is near.  He fills the heavens and the earth.  That makes it a little tough to hide from Him, doesn’t it?  According to God as spoken through Jeremiah, there is no place we can go, no place we can hide, where He cannot see us.

King David confirms this for us, in the 7th verse of Psalm 139…

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

 --Psalm 139:7 (NASB)

So have we answered our question of where is God?  Is all we have left to do now is pray and go to lunch?

There’s a little more to Paul’s sermon that we need to look at before we can be completely satisfied with our answer.  Paul also tells us where God is not.  Right at the start of today’s text, in verse 24, Paul says God does not live in temples made by human hands.  For that matter, in verse 25 Paul assures us God has no need of even being served by human hands.  He doesn’t need anything at all!  Let’s face it: God created everything – what could He possibly need that He couldn’t just create for Himself?

But again, Paul is simply restating what God has already said.  In his book, chapter 66, verses 1 and 2, the prophet Isaiah tells us…

1 Thus says the Lord,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
2 “For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

 --Isaiah 66:1-2 (NASB)

I love the last half of the 2nd verse, where God assures us He will pay attention to those who are humble and contrite of spirit.  Where else do we receive this message?  From His Son, Jesus.  And in a number of places in our New Testament.  But perhaps the most beautiful instance comes from the section of His Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes, as recorded by Matthew in chapter 5 of his Gospel, verses 1 through 12.

So, we know that God is not necessarily in any temple or church building built by human hands.  We also know He is not far off, but is near.  Near enough so that if we would just grope for Him, we might find Him.  Paul says that, right there in verse 27 of our scripture.  That reminds me of the old saying that even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.  An acorn would be a prize for a hog, just as we should consider God our greatest prize.  And folks, too often we are indeed blind, or we have been at one point or another in our lives.  For those of us who really get and understand the message of the Gospel, the scales have been lifted from our eyes just as they were from Paul, and now we can truly see.  I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.  God has overlooked our times of ignorance, our blindness.  Paul assures us of this in verse 30.  And He will forgive us when we repent.

Which brings us to a very stern warning that we need to take another look at.  In verse 30, Paul cautions us that God is declaring to all mankind, to people everywhere, that the time to repent is now.  And in verse 31 he tells us why we should heed his warning…

31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

 --Acts 17:31 (NASB)

God will judge the world.  Is that something we dread and would like to hide from?  Or maybe we can just hide some of our actions so as to get by and not be judged on them?  Not very likely.  In Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 14, King Solomon shatters that bubble of hope…

14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

 --Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NASB)

Every action we’ve ever taken, every act we committed, whether good or evil, will be laid bare before God.  We can’t hide anything from Him – not our actions, not our deeds, not our selves.  God has set a trial date for us, for all of mankind, when we will be judged.  He has appointed the One who will stand as Judge over us.  That Man is Jesus, the One about whom God Himself furnished proof to all of mankind by raising Him from the dead, just as Paul explains there in verse 31.

Jesus provides more detail of just what to expect on that fixed day, in His Revelation to John, chapter 20, verses 12 through 15…

12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 --Revelation 20:12-15 (NASB)

I for one do not want to experience that second death: the lake of fire.  I know I will be judged.  And since I can’t hide any of my actions or deeds, I know I will have some things…  well… a lot of things to answer to Jesus for.  But I also know my name is written in the Book of Life so I will be spared that second death.

What about you?  Is your name written in the Book of Life?

Now I won’t pretend to fully know the heart of each person here, but I feel confident that most of the names in our attendance books today are indeed also written in God’s Book of Life.  But how do you know for sure?  How am I sure my name is written down in the most important of books ever known to man?

It’s simple, really.  All we have to do to answer that question is to answer the one I first posed: where is God?

Is He high on a mountaintop?  Is He in a temple or a church?  Is He sitting on His throne in heaven with His feet resting on the earth?

Well, yes, yes, and yes, since God is everywhere.

But most importantly, and the one place He must be for me to avoid the lake of fire for all eternity, God is right here within me.  God dwells in me, in my soul and in my heart.  Paul and Jeremiah said God is not far off but is near.  Well, you can’t get any nearer to me than right here within me.

When we truly and fully accept Jesus as our Lord and Master, when we surrender our lives to Him, when we repent of our evil and sinful lives and follow only Christ Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live within us, to be our constant, faithful, and sure Companion.  The Holy Spirit is God, the Third Person of our Triune God.  God is within me.

So I’ll ask again, and this is a question you really should be able to answer with complete confidence and assurance.

Where is God?

Your answer must be “God is within me”.  If you are unsure, if you do not know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is in you, please come talk to me.  If you’re not sure, now’s the time to recommit to Jesus.  If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord, now is the time to do so.  There may not be a “tomorrow” to put it off to.

Where is God?

Amen.

Let us pray…    O mighty God, Your holy Word tells us You are everywhere - in heaven and on earth.  You are not a God that is far off.  You are near.  So near that nothing can be hidden where You cannot see it, nothing can be kept from Your view.  You know our deeds, both good and bad.  You can see to the deepest, darkest corners of our hearts.  You know even what we try to hide from ourselves.

Thank You, Father, for overlooking our time of ignorance, even though we at times point out the faults of those around us.  Forgive us, Lord, our sinful ways even when we are unforgiving of others.  Be merciful even when we fail to extend mercy.

Be patient with us, Father, as we struggle with doubts and worries.  Listen to us now as we speak to You from our hearts.

If any of you, my brothers and sisters, urgently sense the need to recommit to your Christ Jesus, or if you have never surrendered yourself to Him, speak these words to Him now from your heart, as we pray…

Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the great sacrifice You made for me.  You took a terrible beating, You bled, and You died on that cross just to defeat death so I might not have to suffer that second death.  My dearest Jesus, I willingly accept You as my Lord and Master.  I recognize You as the one true Son of God and my only Savior.  Forgive me, blessed Jesus, for I have sinned.  I have not lived my life to the fullest in Your holy name.  Jesus, I turn my back on my evil ways.  Help me please to not return to them.  I surrender all to You, O Lord.  Give me the strength and courage to stay ever committed to You, to fight the good fight, to finish the race.  Accept me now, Father God, as Your adopted child and fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may live in Your house for ever and ever.  In the blessed name of Jesus I pray.

And now dear Lord, please listen to the pleadings of our hearts here in the silence, as we confess our sins to You and repent, and seek Your forgiveness…

Now my brothers and sisters, know that our merciful Father loves you, that He has forgiven you, and that His Holy Spirit now abides within you.  Father, we thank You and we pray to You in the precious name of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and our Salvation.  Amen.

Standing Watch

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 20th of July, 2014.]

Hear the words of our Lord as spoken through His prophet Habakkuk, from chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected. 

2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it. 

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry. 

4 Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith."

--Habakkuk 2:1-4 (NKJV)

Let us pray...  God in heaven, come to us this morning as we watch for You, as we seek Your face in this sweet hour of prayer.  Speak to our hearts the message You would have us hear.  Show us the vision You would have us see, that it might guide us through the days ahead.  In the holiest name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.


An older gentleman was strolling through the park one beautiful late summer afternoon when he came upon a young boy sitting on a bench very intently saying his ABC’s.  The old man waited until the child was through then said, “I see you’re practicing your alphabet.  Are you getting ready for school to start?”  “No,” the boy replied, “I was praying.  You see, I don’t know how to pray very well.  So I just give God all the letters and He puts them into the right words."

I wonder if sometimes folks don’t pray because they think they don’t know how to pray very well.  They don’t even take the time to give God all the letters, like that little boy.  They don’t realize that God doesn’t care how they pray, just that they seek Him, that they open up and talk to Him.

Habakkuk understood the importance of going to the Lord in prayer.  His book is effectively one long prayer.  The first two chapters form a running conversation with God, with Habakkuk asking questions and God answering them.  The third chapter is more of a monologue, with Habakkuk praising the Lord in a prayer to Him.

In these three short chapters he takes us from doubt and despair, as in chapter 1 verse 2 where he says…

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.

--Habakkuk 1:2 (NKJV)

…to exultation and rejoicing, as in chapter 3 verse 18, when he prays…

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

 --Habakkuk 3:18 (NKJV)

…if only we keep trusting the Lord and living by faith, as we heard in the last part of verse 4 of today’s scripture from chapter 2.

In those three verses, one from each chapter, Habakkuk goes from worrying to watching and waiting to worshiping!  Instead of complaining, he is praising the Lord.  He is setting an example we should try our best to follow.

Habakkuk looked at his and his people’s circumstances and felt perplexed.  Sounds kind of like us, doesn’t it?  But rather than fretting or shaking his fist at heaven or running around in circles like we are prone to do, Habakkuk waited for God and listened to what the Lord told him.  He understood that any endeavor that does not begin with God ends in failure!

And the last part that God gave him - that the just shall live by faith - sent ripples throughout the world that are still felt today.  That observation so impressed the Apostle Paul that he used it twice in his letters, once in Romans 1:17 and once in Galatians 3:11.  The author of Hebrews also quoted what God told Habakkuk in Hebrews 10:38.  As for those words reverberating through time, Paul’s treatment of Habakkuk’s vision impacted Martin Luther so strongly that it gave him the courage and conviction to press forward with his great reformation, of which our church is a product.


Habakkuk opens chapter 2 by promising to position himself atop the wall and stand his watch.  Now in those days it was critical to their survival that the Israelis would watch for their enemies from vantage points on the walls surrounding their cities.  So they would understand that Habakkuk considered his time alone in prayer, watching for the Lord, to be critically important to him.

He stands watch in prayer, every day, waiting to see what the Lord might say to him and how he himself would respond.  Especially how he would respond to the Lord’s judgments and corrections.  It was in prayer that he could not only talk to God, but that God would also speak to him.

Then when God answers in verse 2, the watching and waiting shifts into action.  God gives Habakkuk a vision and tells him to write it down.  Not only that, but to write it in such a clear manner that even someone running quickly by could easily read and understand what the vision contains.  God wants others to be able to learn from what is recorded.

This concept of watching for the Lord and writing down what He shows us was important enough to God that He gave the same message to the prophet Isaiah.  In his book, chapter 21 verse 6, Isaiah says…

6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”

 --Isaiah 21:6 (NKJV)

So why is a vision so important that we should not only watch out for it but also write it down?  In Proverbs chapter 29, the first part of verse 18, our good teacher tells us that…

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish.

 --Proverbs 29:18a (KJV)

That was from the King James version.  Switching back to my New American Standard Bible for a moment, we see that King Solomon first voices this warning in Proverbs 11, in the first part of verse 14, where he cautions that…

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall.

 --Proverbs 11:14a (NASB)

With no vision to guide them, people are left to meander through life, just existing day to day.  The Israelis refused to accept the vision God gave Moses, the vision that Moses wrote down to share with God’s people, to guide them.  And they ended up wandering aimlessly through the wilderness for 40 years.

So vision is important, but not just any vision – only the vision given to us by God.


If you haven’t figured it out yet, while we may be talking about Habakkuk and what God said to him and showed him, it all applies to each of us as well.  We are to watch and wait for the Lord.  We are to go to Him in prayer and listen for His response.

One aspect of watching is to look.  Look at what is going on around us.  The author of Hebrews tells us in his chapter 12 to look first to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” – that faith which we are to live by.  And like the little cartoon in our bulletin shows us, if we do so, we can run the race without becoming weary or discouraged.

Take a good, hard look and see if you can spot what God is doing right now, in our society, in our world.  And don’t think that God is not still moving in the world today.  In answer to one of Habakkuk’s questions in chapter 1, God responds in verse 5 that we should…

5 “Look among the nations and watch —
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you."

 --Habakkuk 1:5 (NKJV)

Imagine that…  God is doing such a great work in the world around us that if He told us about it, we wouldn’t even believe it!  But that’s pretty much human nature, isn’t it?  Do we really, deep down inside, believe that God is still doing an utterly astounding work in our world, right now, today?  Or do we have doubts?

In verse 3 of today’s scripture, Habakkuk seems to contradict himself when he says that the vision may tarry but then ends the verse by saying it will not tarry.  I don’t believe there is a contradiction at all, because I believe he is comparing our perception of events as measured in our timing verses God’s perception as measured in His perfect timing.

Perhaps the Apostle Peter can make this easier to understand.  Let’s look at his second letter, at 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9, again in the New American Standard Bible, where he explains…

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

 --2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

In our sense of timing, we may think God is slow to act, but He isn’t slow in His timing.  He is patient, and for a reason.  Remember that Solomon warned that without vision, man will perish?  Well, here Peter assures us that God doesn’t want us to perish.  So the Lord gives us glimpses into His vision for us to guide us, that we might not perish.

This is all about vision: God’s vision for us, what He is trying to show us.  One way to define vision is that it is God’s means of expanding on our perspective.  This is how He shows us what He wants us to see, to grasp, to understand.

Habakkuk went to his spot on the wall, to his tower, to pray, to watch and to wait and then to respond.  To clearly hear God, we need to get away from our routines, from our daily pressures, from all the distractions and busyness of the world.  If we lack vision, maybe it’s because we never put ourselves in a position to hear God’s voice.  We need a quiet place.  We need to set aside the time to stand watch and listen.  And we need the determination to carry through on all this.

Some of you have heard me share the vision God gave me for His church, of a church without walls, a church that goes freely into the community to worship and praise our Lord and lead others to salvation through His word, a church where everyone will know we are Christians by the way we live and act and love.  That is the vision God gave me and I have it written down, somewhere, digitally if not on paper.

What about you? Has our gracious Lord given you a glimpse into His master plan?

I have a challenge for you…  You’ve probably noticed a bunch of composition books throughout the sanctuary, even in the choir seats, at the organ, and in the audio/video booth.  Some are wire-bound, some have tape binding.  Most pews have three, the rest have two, except these right here up front where nobody but the acolytes dare venture.  There are two styles and plenty of colors to choose from.  If they all get gone on your pew, look on some of the unoccupied pews.

If you accept this challenge, take one of the composition books and use it to journal your prayer life.  If you don’t have a regular prayer life, start one today.  It only takes a few minutes a day, but if you want to spend a sweet hour in prayer, that will be perfectly acceptable.  Take time, go into your quiet place (which may simply mean turning off the TV and sitting on the couch), and pray.  And then spend time listening for God to answer, watching for Him to show you something.  Once you’ve given Him that time, thank Him for listening and close your prayer.

Then open up your journal, write down the date and make note of the key points of your prayer.  What did you thank God for?  What did you ask Him for?  And then write down anything He showed you.  Record what He told you concerning you, your family, your community.  Get it all on paper, plainly and simply so that anyone can read it and understand.  He wants us to share our vision with others in a way they can grasp it and learn from it.

And once you’ve got it all on paper, pause again and pray through it, so that it will sink into your innermost being and become a part of you.

Will you accept this challenge?  I’ll be happy to run out and get some more comp books if we need them.  It will only take a few minutes each day, or each week if you choose to stand your watch weekly rather than daily.

But stand our watch we should.  Only through watchful prayer can we discern where God is moving in the world, and where He wants us to move.  Through prayer we can seek His wisdom.  Through prayer we can ask Him questions, and He will answer.  Through prayer we can receive His vision for us, and for our church.

Now, it may be that we will not hear God answer us, that He may not show us His vision in our prayer.  But remember what He told Habakkuk: His vision is yet for an appointed time.  Our time is not God’s time.  He will answer our questions and He will show us His vision, but He will do so in His own good time, not necessarily right when we ask Him to.

So don’t give up if you don’t hear anything the first day, or the 20th day for that matter.  Wait for it, wait for God; don’t try to force the issue.  Just pray and wait.  Keep the faith.  For the just person lives by faith.

So take up your position upon the wall and stand your watch.  Watch and wait for the Lord.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father, we come to You in prayer, earnestly seeking Your vision for us as individuals, for our church family, for our role in Your greater community.  Lord God, right this very minute we stand upon the wall, watching and waiting for You to speak.  Look into our hearts, Lord, and see our commitment to standing watch.  Appear to us now, Father, and show us the direction You would have us take.  Show us how You would have us move as we work to expand Your kingdom.  Come to us now, as we silently pray…

Father, thank You for speaking into our hearts.  Thank You for showing us a glimpse of Your great plan.  Help us, please, to follow as You lead.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Speak Life

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on July 13, 2014.]

Close your eyes for a minute… Perhaps you’ve seen a scene in a movie of a secluded valley of glen. The sun is coming up. Scattered wisps of mist and light fog hover near the ground. A few tree trunks lay here and there. The air is dry despite the mist, and burns your throat.

As you walk into the valley, you begin to see evidence that a mighty battle took place here, but long, long ago. Everywhere you look, you see nothing but skeletons, without a shred of flesh on them.

The mist clears, the sun beats down. Everything is dry, withered, lifeless…

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’” 

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

--Ezekiel 37:1-14  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Lord God, today is the day You have made and we thank You and rejoice in it, for in it is life.  Still our minds for these moments we are together so we might discern Your will.  May Your Spirit speak through Your servant so that all might hear Your message.  In the glorious name of Jesus Christ we gather here this morning and we pray.  Amen.


The children of Israel are in captivity in Babylon. They know nothing but despair. They see their situation as hopeless, with no way out. Then God shows the people, through Ezekiel, the promise that He will restore them to their land. The people are dead inside, because the Spirit is not in them. God breathes the Spirit back into them and they come to life.

We can easily find other instances of God breathing life in man. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, we read that…

7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

--Genesis 2:7  (NASB)

God gave mankind its first breath when He breathed life into Adam. And in the book of Job, chapter 33 verse 4, one of Job’s so-called “friends”, Elihu, acknowledges God’s role when he says…

4 “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."

 --Job 33:4  (NASB)

Looking forward from the Old Testament, we can draw some parallels to what Ezekiel experienced with what Jesus did for us. Let’s specifically look at Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, in the second chapter. I’m going to read from verses 1, 4 through 6, and 12 and 13 from Ephesians 2…

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...

12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 --Ephesians 2:1, 4-6, 12-13  (NASB)

In verse 1 Paul tells us Jesus came to us when we were dead in our sin. Everywhere Ezekiel looked he saw dead, dry bones, so dry they had almost turned to dust. Just as God breathed life into the dry bones, Ephesians 2:13 gives evidence that Jesus “breathed” life into us by His blood. And Ezekiel watched as God raised up those that man would consider dead, just as Paul assures us we will be raised in verses 4 through 6.

When we look out across that valley of dry bones, or at our own condition as Paul describes in Ephesians 2, we are faced with that question God asked Ezekiel:  “can these bones live?” Are we, like the Israelis, lifeless, cut off from all hope? Has our hope perished, as Ezekiel puts it in his verse 11 and Paul in his verse 12?

Ezekiel sees the reality of death – a valley littered with lifeless, completely dried up bones. But God says this is not the finality of death. His perspective is quite a bit different from Ezekiel’s, or from ours. God promises through Ezekiel verse 37:5 that He will bring us back to life, and through Ephesians 2:5 that He will make us alive!

When God asked if those bones could live, Ezekiel didn’t really know for sure if they would. but he had no doubt that God could make them live if He wanted to. He was at least trying to look at the situation from God’s perspective rather than from man’s.


The dry bones represent our current situation. We are without hope, all dried up and withered. But this doesn’t have to be our future. If we allow Him to, God will revive us. He’ll restore us to health, to life, physically and spiritually. Notice in Ezekiel’s account, in verse 10, that the bones became “an exceedingly great army”. We won’t just be restored, but made better than ever!

So do you think we can do what God did? Can we breathe new life into old, dry bones? Yes, we can! Ezekiel did not put limits on God and neither should we.

But consider that God did not do anything until Ezekiel actually spoke the words God gave Him to repeat. Verses 7 and10 both begin with Ezekiel proclaiming “So I prophesied as He commanded me.” To prophesy is quite simply to speak the word of God.

One of my brother pastors related a story to us recently of a local man that he thinks lives somewhere in the Salisbury area. This man’s father was deathly ill, having been septic for 3 or 4 days and because nothing the doctors did helped any, they didn’t expect him to last through the week. The man reports that he sensed God telling him to read Ezekiel chapter 37 to his father. With nothing to lose except a little time, the man went to the hospital, opened up his Bible, and read Ezekiel 37 to his unresponsive father. He provided no extra commentary, no interpretation - the man simply read the scripture out loud to his father. He prophesied the word of God. The next day the man’s father was completely healed and left the hospital once the doctors finally agreed to let him go. The man’s wife confirmed all this. Now I have neither actual citations nor names to give for verification of this story, but I trust my brother who related it to me.

Sometimes all we need to do is what God tells us to, just to read His word. Some will think this little story to be apocryphal; just something made up to make a point. But we need to remember that God lives right here in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us. With the power of the Holy Spirit working from us, we can speak life into the dry places. We can restore a withered spirit to health. We can breathe renewed vigor into what others might think is a dead heart. Remember the words of our song: “Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted; watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope, you speak love, you speak life.”

In the 107th Psalm, verses 19 and 20, the psalmist tells us the children of Israel…

19 …cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.

 --Psalm 107:19-20  (NASB)

We need to say the words of God in our withered valley. We need to cry out to the Lord in our troubled areas.

Are there dry bones in our lives? Are we dead because the Spirit is not in us? Is the Spirit not in us because we have rejected Him? Our society certainly has. We’ve kicked God out of our schools, out of our government, out of our lives. We chase after everything but God, putting material and emotional gain ahead of spirituality, convenience ahead of worship and service.

But what about us, here today? Do we see dry bones around us? Are we in some withered place with no visible signs of life? Do we sometimes feel that there just isn’t any life left in us, we no longer have hope for a good resolution to the situation we find ourselves in? Are we just enduring, not living? Do we feel cut off from any chance of enjoyment or pleasure or happiness or satisfaction or even contentment? Have we given everything there is in us and there’s nothing left? Do we trust God but we just don’t see any way He could possibly help?

If any of that describes you, then I want to invite you to come join me here at the altar or just stand there at your seat and let’s speak life into our dry places. Let’s speak life to the deadest, darkest night. If the sun don’t shine and we don’t know why, then let’s speak life…


O merciful Father in heaven, we stand here staring at the dry bones scattered throughout the valley of our lives.  You ask us, “Can these bones live?”, and we hesitate in our answer.  Father we know You can do anything, we know miracles still happen, but we can’t fathom why You would care enough about us to want to help us.  We’ve gotten to the point in our despair over the mess we’re in that we just feel it would be a waste of our efforts to even ask Your help yet again, when we’ve asked time after time.

Forgive us, Father, when we doubt you.  Encourage us, mighty Lord, to stand in the midst of this dry valley and to prophesy in Your name.  Embolden us, please Lord, to face the dry bones in our lives and repeat the words You gave Ezekiel:  “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.  I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Heal our hurts, Lord, whether they are in our body or in our spirit.  Clothe the bare skeletons of our innermost self with new flesh and make us whole.  Listen, please Father, as we confess to You from our hearts just what our dry bones are to us, so that You might breathe Your Spirit into them.  Hear us now, Lord, as we pause in silence…  [*  pause for reflection  *]  And now, dear Lord, we speak life into our dry places.  We speak hope where there was once only hopelessness.  We speak love to those places in our lives where love has been all but forgotten.  O wonderful and gracious Father, we speak life.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus, we speak life and we pray.  Amen.

Do We Remember?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on July 6, 2014.]

This past Friday we celebrated America’s Independence Day, and last week we looked at what our true freedom is and who it comes from. Today we’ll be commemorating the source of our freedoms as we come to our Lord’s Table. Let’s begin by looking at the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 22, verses 14 through 23, reading from the New Living Translation:

14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

17 Then He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.”

20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray Me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays Him.” 23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.

--Luke 22:14-23  (NLT)

Let us pray...  Father, thank You for the opportunity to stop and sit down for a moment, to pause from the busyness of life and examine our hearts. Speak to us, Lord, in our quiet place, and tell us of Jesus. Help us repent of our impurities and get our hearts right with You.  In the holiest name of Jesus our Redeemer we pray. Amen.


A pastor shared that on one particular Communion Sunday, his Communion steward prepared the elements in her usual manner. Or at least the minister thought she did it the same way she normally did. When it came time to uncover the elements, the grape juice looked darker than usual. The pastor thought little of it, though, and began serving the communion. Promptly upon receiving and drinking from their cup, each member of the congregation had a peculiar, stunned look on their face. When it came time for the pastor to receive the cup, he discovered why all the strange looks: the juice was prune juice! One congregant commented, “Perhaps this is a divine commentary on our spirituality. Maybe God thinks we need to loosen up a bit.”


Notice in the first part of our message text that Jesus said He was eager to share this Passover meal with His disciples. Why do you suppose that is? Well, Jesus knew this would be His last chance for some relatively good-natured fellowship before His terrible suffering began. He knew that His death was close at hand but He had so much more He wanted to tell His followers. He knew this would be the last time He would be able to share a meal with His closest friends until their eventual reunion in the future, when God’s kingdom comes to earth. And maybe even back then, the condemned man could get His final meal.

There have been many meals that I eagerly looked forward to, but none that were followed with so much nastiness and sorrow. But even this last supper together had some high notes. In Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Last Supper, in chapter 26 verse 30, we learn something quite interesting about Jesus, something the choir should appreciate…

30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

--Matthew 26:30  (NASB)

After they finished eating, they sang a hymn. “They” would certainly include Jesus, wouldn’t it? Jesus sang. A couple weeks ago we had a sketch on the cover of our bulletin of Jesus holding a baby and laughing. Here we have a scriptural picture of Jesus singing. This is the human side of God.  Jesus: fully God and fully human.  Wouldn’t it be neat, to have Jesus singing in our choir?  Of course, who says He doesn’t?

Unfortunately, today’s scripture reading ends on a more somber note. Jesus informs His friends that among them is the one who will soon betray Him, who will turn Him over to the authorities to be beaten, tried, and executed. He acknowledges that yes, it is true He must die. That is God’s will, after all. But woe to the one who betrays Him! And of course the disciples get all righteously indignant and do the “not me” routine. “Who could DO such a thing!!??!!” they shouted at each other.  “Not me!” “I certainly wouldn’t!” “I’d never do that to our Master!”

But it gets worse, more personal. After dinner and hymn singing they went up to the Mount of Olives. Once there, Jesus gave His followers a glimpse of what was to come. Matthew records the exchange in chapter 26, verses 31 through 35…

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

 --Matthew 26:31-35  (NASB)

Jesus quotes from the prophet Zechariah, chapter 13 verse 7, when He says the sheep will be scattered.  Now I don’t know if Peter was upset to be thought of by His Master as just one of the sheep, or that Jesus thought he might scatter at the first sign of trouble and not stand with his Lord and friend. But his reply seems almost petulant, as if he were saying, “the others might, but I will never fall away”. And again, predictably, the other disciples join the “not me” chorus.

Jesus sets Peter straight, though. Not only will he flee, he’ll also deny Christ. Not once, not twice, but three times before morning. And sure enough, just as Jesus foretold, Peter did just that. Here’s how Matthew reported the incident, at the end of chapter 26, verses 69 through 75…

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

 --Matthew 26:69-75  (NASB)

When his neck was on the line, Peter denied any knowledge of Jesus. He denied knowing Him personally.  He cursed and swore that he did not know the man! And suddenly, realizing what he had just done, the words of Jesus came back to haunt him.

Last week I read the text from 1st Corinthians chapter 11, including verse 27 where Paul says…

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

 --1 Corinthians 11:27  (NASB)

Are we coming to our Lord’s table in an unworthy manner? Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to His captors. What about us - do we betray Him? Peter denied Jesus. Do we?

Are we afraid to admit we know Him in a public setting? Have we made an attempt to go into the world making disciples and baptizing in His name? Do we stand up when Christianity is threatened or ridiculed, or do we cower hoping no one will notice us or think poorly of us? Do we love one another as much as we love ourselves? Do we put our money and our time where our faith is, or spend it on ourselves and our family? Is Jesus our greatest priority, or are other things more important to us than spending time in worship or prayer or studying His word? Do we tell those little white lies for the sake of convenience and comfort? Did we claim a deduction we probably shouldn’t have on our taxes for last year? Do we remember Him, not only when we eat and drink but in every action we take, in every thought we make?

Any time we do any of these or something else we know full well we shouldn’t do, we are betraying Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Any time we fail to place Him first and follow Him as our Master we deny Him. Whether we do it on the outside for the entire world to see, or completely inside the domain of our own heart where only God can see it, we dishonor our Lord and act in an unworthy manner.

How can we be sure we don’t come to our Lord’s table unworthy of His sacrifice? We must repent of our wrong doings. Right here, right now. From our hearts we must confess our sin to our Lord, and to ourselves. We must promise to turn our back to that sin and once again turn our face fully toward Jesus… and mean it… and then we must ask forgiveness for our sin.

God is merciful. We will be forgiven and will be seen as worthy in our Lord’s eyes. Worthy to come to His table, to take of His body, broken for us, to drink of His blood, shed for us.

Remember Jesus. Remember the significance of accepting Him as your Master. Remember all He did just to give you the chance of being freed forever from sin and death, of being saved. Come to His table, and remember Him.

Amen.

Let us pray…    Father God, we thank You for allowing us to come together this morning to share a meal with our Lord and Savior Jesus.  Lord, we come to You with a repentant heart and we seek Your forgiveness and Your blessing.  Please help us remember the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf as we partake of these elements – His body broken for us, His blood shed for us.  Forgive us when we deny Him by our thoughtlessness and by our inaction when we should stand firm and acknowledge our faith.  Forgive us when we betray Him by acting in a way contrary to His teachings and example.  Help us remember Him by following the path He laid, by loving You and by loving one another, by sharing the Gospel throughout our world.  And now, dear Lord, hear us as we pray silently from our hearts, as we confess our sins to You, as we repent and seek Your forgiveness.  Listen, Lord, to the pleadings of our hearts…    Now prepare us, Lord Jesus, to come to Your table.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Of Independence and Freedom

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on June 29, 2014.]

When seeking the Lord’s guidance for today’s message, He gave me one simple verse, from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, the 1st verse of chapter 5:

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

 --Galatians 5:1  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your many blessings over this nation.  You have raised us above other nations and given us seemingly endless resources.  Please help us remember, Lord, to use those resources to the benefit of others, to be a blessing to the less fortunate as You have been a blessing to us.  Forgive us when we forget just how much we owe You, as individuals and as a nation.  In the wonderful name of Christ Jesus we thank You and we pray.  Amen.

A general of the Persian army always gave his condemned prisoners a choice: the firing squad or the big black door.  Most chose the firing squad.  The prisoners were never told what was on the other side of the door.  Few ever chose the unknown of the black door.  When asked what was on the other side of the black door, the general answered, “Freedom, and I’ve known only a few men brave enough to take it.”  (From “The Big Black Door”, #815 on page 310 in 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.)

That’s sad, isn’t it?  All those condemned men chose the known, and a certain death, over the unknown.  They were so close to being set free, literally on the threshold of freedom, but were too afraid to take a chance.  In a way, freedom can be scary.  Freedom is filled with unknowns.  When we’re free, we are free to make choices, to make decisions that will impact our lives and the lives of others.  Just thinking about some of the decisions we’ll be faced with can be quite scary.

This coming Friday we will be commemorating the 238th anniversary of the birth of the United States.  Our forefathers were among the brave ones – they chose the big black door.  They took a great risk when they signed that manifest declaring our independence from English rule, putting all their possessions and even their very lives on the line.  They engaged in and fought a long, horrific war.  Our freedom was won by the blood of patriots, some of whose remains rest in our cemetery out back.  Meanwhile in our cemetery out front and across the street, the remains of those born into slavery lie in rest, many of whom never knew freedom.  Not until after our War Between the States were all peoples considered free in this great land of ours.

I have to ask the question: are we truly free, or are we still held in bondage?  According to Paul in Galatians 5:1, yes, we are free.  And it was Christ Jesus that set us free, not a soldier or warrior or president.  Which then begs the question: what did He free us from?  Not from the rule of other men so we could govern ourselves.  Not from slavery or ownership of other men.  From what then?

Jesus Himself gives us the answer, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 31 through 36…

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

 --John 8:31-36  (NASB)

Jesus says everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages of sin are death.  So Jesus frees us from sin and death.  And in today’s scripture Paul cautions us not to take on the chains of slavery again.

Now everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus.  This is certainly true of Isaiah when he spoke for the Lord.  Looking at the first part of the 9th verse of the 49th chapter of his book, God says…

9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’

 --Isaiah 49:9  (NLT)

And that comes from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible, departing for just a moment from my usual New American Standard Bible version.

God promises in Isaiah’s scripture that all prisoners may now come out of their jails into freedom.  All those in darkness can step into the light.  Why now?  Because Jesus has come to save all prisoners of sin.  And who is the light of the world but Jesus, who frees us.

OK, so Jesus paid the ultimate price and freed us from sin.  But what does this freedom look like?  What is the practical application of this freedom?  Do our actions show evidence of this freedom?

Along the same lines of the idea of once adopted, always adopted, that we discussed last week…  if once freed, always freed, does this mean we can continue sinning?  After all, Jesus already paid the price for us.  He has forgiven us, so why not?

Paul has a definite answer to that particular question.  Let’s look in that same chapter 6 of his letter to the Romans that I mentioned earlier, starting first with verses 1 through 7, and staying with the NLT for a bit longer.  Paul begins…

1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with Him in his death, we will also be raised to life as He was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

 --Romans 6:1-7  (NLT)

And then in verses 14 through 16 he says…

14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

 --Romans 6:14-16  (NLT)

Wait a minute!  What did Paul just say?!?  We become a slave of whatever we choose to obey.  We can choose to obey our sinful nature, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God, which leads to righteousness.  So our choice is to be a slave to sin or a slave to God???  First Paul says not to fall into slavery again but then he urges us to be a slave to God!?!  What’s up with that??!!??

In New Testament times, there was a fairly common class of people known as bondservants.  This may have been a slave that was freed or someone who had owed a debt that was finally paid off by being a slave, or perhaps the debt had been forgiven while they were still working as a slave.  But for whatever reason, this would be a slave who was released from their servitude yet who chose to stay with their master and continue working for him just like a slave: for no pay other than room and board and being taken care of.  There are a number of reasons a person might become a bondservant.  This could be a good life for them, if their master is kind and generous.  They may have married and started a family while a slave, likely with another slave of the same master.  No matter why, they willingly chose to stay in servitude even though they had been set free and no longer had to serve as a slave.

In Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7, Paul tells us Jesus Himself, the Son of God, served as a bondservant to God…

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

 --Philippians 2:5-7  (NASB)

As Christians, when we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Master, we are in effect committing ourselves to serve as His bondservants.  And as bondservants, we should reflect the attributes, characteristics, viewpoints, and actions of our Master.  We should accept others as He accepts us.  We should love others as He loves us.  We should forgive others as He forgives us.  We have been freed from the shackles of how we might appear to the world; of how the world looks at our acceptance, love, forgiveness; of how the world derides and ridicules us for our love of our Master, for serving Him even when the world sees no need to.

So how does this freedom to be a bondservant look on us?  Do we wear it well?  We know that when we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us.  A little further on in chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul says that if the Holy Spirit is alive and well within us, people will be able to observe the presence of the Holy Spirit by His fruits.  In verses 22 and 23 Paul says…

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 --Galatians 5:22-23  (NASB)

When we become bondservants of Christ, we take on His attributes, we begin to look like Him.  People will begin to see Him through us.  If nothing else, they will notice how free we seem to be.

Next Sunday we will observe the rite of Holy Communion.  It is important that we have our heart in the right place before we partake of the elements of Christ.  Listen to the way Paul puts it in 1st Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 28…

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.  27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

 --1 Corinthians 11:23-28  (NASB)

We need to examine ourselves, look carefully into our own hearts.  Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit noticeable?  Are we harboring ill-will or holding a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ?  Is there someone we need to forgive, or seek forgiveness from?  Do we reflect our Master Jesus in our thoughts and actions?  Have we fully committed to being His bondservant?  Are we willing to keep our end of the covenant Jesus makes with us when we drink from that cup?  Are we worthy of the broken body and precious blood of our Lord and Savior?  These are tough questions that we need to ask of ourselves in preparation for taking Communion.

So this week as we celebrate our nation’s declaration of independence from foreign rule, let’s also celebrate our independence from death and our dependence on Jesus.  As we rejoice in our freedom from tyranny, may we also rejoice in our freedom from sin.  All the while giving thanks that now freed, we are free to choose to be a bondservant to Christ Jesus.

Praise the Lord, for when we are freed by the Son, we are free indeed.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Loving Father, You sent Your Son to earth to save us.  While we were still chained in slavery to sin and death, Jesus set us free.  Thank You so much, Lord, for that gracious gift.  Thank You so much, Jesus, for Your sacrifice.  Now that we are released from our shackles, may we serve our Lord and Master as His bondservant.  May we reflect Jesus in all our thoughts and actions.  May the fruits of Your Holy Spirit be evident in us for all to see, so that we might be a better witness for You.  Above all, Lord, may Your will be done.  We ask all this, we give our thanks, and we pray in the blessed name of our Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Like a Child

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on June 22, 2014.]

Today we’ll be looking at the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 10, verses 13 through 16:

13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

 --Mark 10:13-16  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, we pray that for a few moments we might be as children, fascinated by the story of Your Son, Jesus, listening to each word You speak so that we might learn more.  Use me, Lord, to deliver Your message and may Your Holy Spirit touch each one of us today.  In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer we pray.  Amen.

A little boy asked his father, “Dad, did God make you?”  “Yes, of course”, his father replied. “And did He make me?” the son continued.  “Yes,” his father answered with a smile, “he sure did.”  The boy thought for a moment then said, “Well, I think He’s doing better work lately, don’t you?”

Out of the mouths of babes…

Watching our kids in Vacation Bible School this week has truly been an uplifting experience, and it makes me appreciate the better work God is doing.  The children played and had a good time, sure.  But they also listened and learned.  They picked up on the ideas and concepts presented to them by their teachers and leaders.  They went into this week with a childlike innocence and glee, not knowing exactly what to expect but having faith that the people in charge would do wonderful things for them.

This is the simple, unassuming, unquestioning faith of a child.  A quality we seem to lose as we age, as life beats us down.  The kids know what we’ve forgotten…  Even when we’re feeling left out, Jesus loves us.  Even when we’re different, even when we don’t understand, even though we sometimes do wrong, even when we’re afraid, Jesus still loves us.  This is what Jesus wants us to remember, what He is trying to tell us.

David understood this, long before Jesus even spoke the words.  Hear how he describes himself in his 131st Psalm…

1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

 --Psalm 131  (NASB)

Hope in the Lord, David tells us; trust in the Lord.  Don’t be proud or haughty.  Don’t get all involved in matters that are too great or too difficult.  Instead, be composed and quiet, like a child resting in its mother’s embrace.  We should be childlike and trusting.

You may have heard the story of an old man walking along a deserted beach after a terrible storm.  He notices starfish, hundreds of them, washed up on shore from the violence of the storm-tossed waves.  Then he sees a little girl.  He watches as she bends down, picks up a starfish, and tosses it back into the now calm sea.  She does this over and over, barely pausing long enough to make sure the little creature lands in the water.  Walking over to her, the old man asks the girl, “Why are you doing this? “  The little girl answers, “Because they will die in the sun if they are out of the water too long.”  Incredulous, the old man huffs, “But there are thousands of them, far too many for you to save them all!  You’re wasting your time!  This won’t make a bit of difference.  It won’t matter at all.”  The little girl tosses yet another starfish into the water before replying, “It matters to that one.”

That little girl had faith, didn’t she?  Faith that even a simple act, one that most of us might think insane, can make a difference.

Now, having a childlike faith does not necessarily mean we have to be like children.  The Apostle Paul, in the 4th chapter of his letter to the church in Ephesus, verses 11 through 15, talks about maturing in our faith just as we mature as individuals…

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

 --Ephesians 4:11-15  (NASB)

Paul says that just as we grow and mature in our bodies, we also grow and mature in our faith, until someday we become mature in our faith, or as Paul puts it, “to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”.  We are to “grow up in all aspects into … Christ”.  But Paul himself acknowledges in chapter 3 of Philippians that this is a level of perfection we won’t achieve until our resurrection.

He seems to contradict Jesus a little, doesn’t he?  Jesus says we are to be “such as these”, the children, but Paul says that as we mature we are no longer children, tossed about by the world, carried away by any and every deceit and trickery.  But then again, we haven’t gotten to that level of maturity yet.  And Satan is the master of deception.  So in some regards we are still childlike, still untouched by the world at least to some degree.

Maybe we can use what Paul says in his first letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 14, verse 20, to clear this up a bit…

20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

 --1 Corinthians 14:20  (NASB)

When it comes to being evil, to doing evil things, we should be like infants, like babies.  When it comes to the evilness that so inhabits and controls this world, we need to be as innocent as children, not partners in crime.  But in our thinking, in how we interact with and react to the world and its influences, we need to be more mature.  We still need to be trusting of our fellow man, to show one another love as Jesus commands us, but we also need to be constantly alert to the trickery, the snares, the stumbling blocks that Satan will use to trap us.  We must be on guard, not niaïve to the ways of the world, not too easily sucked into Satan’s grasp.


In today’s text, Jesus pointed to the children gathering around Him and said, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”.  To such as these…  To those who look at God and heaven with a bright-eyed innocence.  To those who love unconditionally.  To those who do not question…

I’m willing to bet there is not a single parent in here who hasn’t experienced this little scenario:  You tell your child to do something.  They balk and cry “Why?”  In frustration, you blurt out, “Because I said so!”

As parents, we have the responsibility of seeing to the well-being of our children. And when it comes down to it, our children have to blindly accept and follow what we tell them to do.  They have faith in us as their parent that we have their best interests at heart, that we won’t steer them wrong.  They trust us.

This is the kind of faith we need.  We need to accept what God tells us because He has our best interests in all His plans.  He knows that where we are going is so wonderful we will surely want to be there.

We have to truly understand that even if the world makes us feel left out, even when we’re different from everyone else around us, even if we don’t fully understand what is happening to us, even when we do something wrong (and we will, because we’re human), even when we’re so afraid we don’t know which way to turn…  God loves us, Jesus loves us.  He will work everything to our good if we just trust Him, put all our faith and hope in Him.

And then, in our last verse today, Jesus paints such a beautiful picture of God’s love.  Look at the front cover of your bulletin.  He takes the little children in His arms and blesses them.  This is what God does for us, this is the love He has for His children.

Come to God as a child, and receive His kingdom.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You have adopted us – we are Your children.  Thank You so much for allowing us to come to You any time we need to or want to.  Thank You for that greatest gift of Your Son to show us the way.  May we always be as children in your eyes, wary of the world but innocent in our faith.  Please Father, help us avoid the pitfalls the enemy would use to trap us.  Help us keep our childlike faith while we still mature and grow more and more into the image of Christ Your Son.  Help us put all our trust and hope in You as we step into tomorrow, unhindered as we approach Jesus.  We pray to You, Father, in that blessed name - Jesus - our Lord and Master.  Amen.