I Don't Want To Do What I Want To Do

[The following was delivered at St. James Reformed Church, Mt. Pleasant, NC, on Sunday, September 20, 2009.]

"I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate. I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. And so, if I don't do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them. But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.”

-- Romans 7:15; 18-20; 23-25a (CEV)

Too often I find that I want to do what I really don't want to do. So as it turns out, I don't really want to do what I want to do. Confused? So am I. And so was Paul, when he wrote to the Christians in Rome. "I don't understand why I act the way I do", he said. "I do the things I hate." Does that make sense, to do something we hate? And how could I possibly not want to do something I want to do?

Paul described this as something within every part of his very being fighting against his mind. His words paint a picture of constant conflict: his body in perpetual battle with his brain. He knows what he should do, in his thinking, but his body seems to have a life all its own, a non-thinking mind just trying to do what it wants to do. His body wants to do one thing, but his brain knows it would be better, would be right, to do another.

So while my body, and even my heart, may be screaming, shouting, begging, pleading for something it wants and desires, my head tells me no, that is not for you. What your body asks for is not what it really needs. Trying out those roller blades may look like a lot of fun to your inner child, but your older body will ache and cry tomorrow morning. Your taste buds and salivary glands may be going into overdrive at the sight and smell of that thick juicy steak, but your arteries are already narrowed and you don't really want them completely clogged. What your heart desires today could well lead you on a path leading to the lake of fire come the day of final judgment. And your brain knows that.

What is this affliction that can cause such confusion and ultimate harm? What brings about this combative division between heart and mind? Paul suffered from it, and I admit to being inflicted myself. Have you experienced this? It can be quite painful. What is it? In a word: temptation.

In Genesis we read of the first temptation, as the serpent whispers into Eve's ear. "Go ahead, Dear, eat this fruit. It is so delicious. Besides, the only reason God doesn't want you to eat it is because, if you do, then you will be just like Him, you will know everything He knows, and He couldn't stand to let that happen. Go ahead, take a bite. You'll see." And the serpent deceived Eve, and she ate. She fed some to Adam, and he ate. The knowledge they gained made them feel naked and ashamed. And the chasm between God and His creation opened.

Temptation. Eve and Adam yielded to temptation, and original sin resulted. If we yield, the consequences may not be quite so dire for the entire human race, but they certainly can be for us individually. Each time we give in to a temptation, no matter how small or innocent it may seem, we take a step off the straight and narrow path. The more often we yield, the more difficult it becomes to stay on that path. We make it just a little easier for Satan to tempt us again. We make the next temptation that much easier to rationalize and accept. The further we go, the easier it becomes for the devil to pull us in the direction he wants us to go. Like puppets dancing on the end of strings, he guides our lives further and further from what God would have for us. And somewhere along the line, if we have any free will left, we may realize that we are lost, maybe hopelessly so. We can be drawn so far afield, we may never find our way back.

You need a pen? Take one from work. The company can afford it. Everybody does it. Go ahead, it's just one little pen... mmmmm... Doesn't that huge slice of cake look good! So rich and sweet. You're only a few pounds over your optimal weight, your heart can handle that. Besides, you'll lose that much easily next week. Go ahead, take a bite... Why that so and so! How dare he talk about me like that! I'll just tell everyone how I saw him out drinking and carousing. It's the truth, kind of. They don't have to know I was out with him... I wonder what it would be like to ...

After a while, we can no longer hear the devil's voice in our ear, only our own thoughts posing possibilities and what ifs in our heads. What if I stuffed this sweater in my shopping bag and ran? Would I get caught? What if I kissed that person I have such a crush on, that I know really likes me too? Would my spouse ever know? What if I cheated a little on my taxes and claimed exemptions I don't really have? Would they catch it? What if I eventually turned my back on God? Will it really matter when I die?

Temptation. So easy to fall victim.

Is anyone safe? No, sadly, we are all subject to temptation. Jesus tells us, in Matthew chapter 18 verse 7, "What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting." (Matthew 18:7 (NLT)) In this one verse of scripture, Matthew at least offers a little comfort in that we are not alone. Temptation is inevitable; it cannot be escaped; everyone is subject to it. The world tempts people and the world will pay a price for doing so. Of course, in this regard, the world is ruled by the Evil One and he is the one that will pay. Paul confirms this when he tells the church at Corinth, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience." (1 Corinthians 10:13a (NLT)) But Jesus goes on to sternly caution that any person who causes others to fall under temptation's spell will also pay a price in the end; and we can only assume the same cost will be exacted of them as of Satan, and his punishment is to be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. So just a word of warning: while you can expect to be tempted, you had better not be the one found guilty of tempting others!

Much of the temptation we face today is brought about by societal pressure. Our culture has gradually shifted more toward a self-centered attitude, with greater and greater demands upon and expectations of instant gratification. I want it bigger and better and I want it now! Rather than deferring a desire for a time when we can better afford it, and in that regard I don't just mean financially, we seek to receive the coveted prize immediately, whether we can afford it yet or deserve it yet or even if we shouldn't really have it at all. Our older generation knows the value of deferred gratification. It allows us to do things in their proper order, at their proper time. And it gives us the opportunity to stop and think about whether we truly should have what we so desperately want. An underlying attitude of entitled instant gratification provides a fertile ground in which to sew seeds of temptation.

Every Sunday we pray to our Father in heaven, "Lead us not into temptation". But God does not lead us astray. God does not tempt us. If our own common sense did not reassure us of this, the Bible does. In his first chapter, verses 12 through 14, James tells us, "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, 'God is tempting me.' God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away." (James 1:12-14 (NLT)) Did you notice the deferred gratification there, the reward? "Afterward", James says, after they have endured temptation, "they will receive the crown of life".

Many may remember Flip Wilson, a very funny and very popular comedian back in the 60's and 70's. One of Flip's most loved and most often used lines was "The devil made me do it!". Anything his character did wrong, the devil was to blame. It turns out this is closer to the truth than we may have thought. While Flip's comedic treatment of sin gave us something to laugh at, it can also serve as a warning to us still today.

Temptation comes from Satan, who wishes nothing more than to entice us and drag us away from God. Just as he tempted Eve and Adam and succeeded, he tried to tempt Jesus, but failed. "Turn these stones into bread. Throw Yourself from the heights so the angels will swoop down to save You. Prove you are the Son of God. Better yet, bow down and worship me and I will give You the world!" Such enticements, who could refuse the offer of the world? Jesus could, and did. Three times Satan tempted Jesus, and three times he failed. Matthew reports quite simply that after the third attempt, "Then the devil left Him." We can expect to be tempted far more than three times. Nor should we think the devil will ever leave us alone, not as long as we draw breath.

But there is hope, there is promise. Paul gave us the answer in the same breath as the diagnosis. Jesus is the answer! He will rescue us. The cross upon which He died became the bridge spanning the chasm that opened on that fateful day when Eve and Adam fell prey to temptation. Finishing verse 13 of chapter 10 in his first letter to the church at Corinth, begun above and repeated here, Paul assures us that, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure." (1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)) What is that way out? Jesus Himself told us, as recorded by Matthew: "'Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.'" (Matthew 26:41 (NLT))

When you hear Satan's voice, stop and pray. If you feel a temptation coming, ask God for strength to resist. God knows we will be tempted, every one of us. Jesus knows that even if our spirit is willing, our flesh is weak. Paul realized that while he knows in his mind what is right, his flesh screams for him to do what is wrong. We know for certain that there are, and that there always will be, times when we just don't want to do what we want to do. Prayer and trust in God will get us through those times.


Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue us.

Amen.

Hope

"What strength do I have, that I should hope? And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?”

-- Job 6:11 (NKJV)

Darkness enfolds me like a cold, damp blanket. Despair settles in. I can see no way out, no means of escape. No matter what I try, things only get worse. Injury is heaped upon injury, illness upon illness, disaster follows disaster. Each turn presents a new wall to surmount, each twist a different blocked alley to confuse my way. My strength fails me. No one understands, no one cares. My friends left my side, one by one. I feel betrayed. Lost, cold, alone, I blindly stumble through each day as if walking through a dense fog, simply waiting for the next trip and fall, having forgotten even the sense of dread. Hopelessness overwhelms me as if waves crashing over my head. I awake each morning to the desolate landscape of my spirit. Where is my rest, where is my relief? Why won't the end just hurry up and come?

Job knew this feeling well. Satan pointed to Job as an example of the kind of fair-weather worshipper mankind is. As long as everything was going good for him, as it was for Job at that time, then man would worship God and praise Him. But man is only driven by self-interest, Satan says. Let things suddenly go sour, let him lose all that is important to him, and man will turn from God and curse Him. Satan dared God to let him carry Job off into the darkness of despair and see just how quickly he abandons God. God accepted the challenge, and so began perhaps the most remarkable experiment recorded in the Bible.

Job literally became the battleground for this conflict between God and Satan. Satan started stripping Job of everything he had accumulated over the years. All of his livestock are taken or destroyed in a drawn out series of events. All of his children are killed in one stroke. Job pretty much accepts all of this in stride, knowing he brought nothing into this world and would carry nothing out of it. In Job 1:21 he says that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. This reaction is not what Satan expected, or wanted, so he pressed God to allow him to go further in his torment of Job, inflicting physical pain and suffering to go along with the emotional distress and loss of possessions. Boils cover Job from head to foot. Miserable, confused, Job waits them out, still holding fast to his trust in God. His wife loses her faith finally and asks why doesn't he just go ahead and curse God and die, to get out of the agony. Job now has to stand alone, but remains faithful to God.

Then come three friends, determined to talk some sense into Job. Their intent is to examine and answer the question, "Why do senseless tragedies afflict men?". Most of the book centers on this discourse. They sit back and smugly address Job and his woes, assured that Job's problems all arose because he had committed some awful sin. They compared their own cleanliness to his afflictions. They noted how none of them had lost livestock or children, none of their wives had turned on them. They had not sinned, so God was still good to them. Since God was treating Job so horribly, he must have sinned in some terrible way. They argue that if God is indeed just, then the righteous are always blessed and the wicked always suffer.

Job's despair deepens. He does not know what to think or do, for it seems God no longer hears his pleas, his prayers. Confusion, bewilderment, anger, hurt, frustration all play within him in turn. Yet throughout it all he remains honest, he blurts out what is in him, the truth that he knows. He refuses to admit to what he cannot accept. Even as he feels God has abandoned him, he never loses his faith in God. This is clearly evident in chapter 19, verse 25, when he proclaims, "For I know that my Redeemer lives". He cries out for someone to mediate for him, to go to God on his behalf. In this bitter, blackest hour, Job sees a point of light far off in the unknown future. He has no name for this Light, but we know that Job sees the coming of Jesus Christ (Job 19:25-26). In this he takes his hope and his comfort. Jesus is that Mediator Job pleaded for, the only One who can stand beside us, stand for us, when we face God.

And finally, God answers Job, responds to his prayers. God takes Job on a grand tour of creation, showing Job just how unqualified he is to debate God on any subject, let alone on why God would do this or not do that. As the overwhelming wisdom and power of God becomes more and more evident, Job falls on his face and begs forgiveness. Basically, God is saying that life is far to complicated for simple answers. Man is not capable of dealing with the complex issues that Job is raising. Bluntly, God's message is that only God has the right to use His creation for whatever reason or purpose he desires. Man was created by God, not the other way around. God does not exist for man, man exists for and because of God. Only God has the wisdom necessary to the task of running all of creation, and God is always in control. We must trust God to work out these complicated problems of life, knowing that He will keep all in balance, and in the end our wonderful Savior will mediate our case for us.

And then God did a remarkable thing: He showed Job His grace. First He asked Job to pray for his friends, that their hearts might be softened and opened to the truth. And then God returned to Job twice what was taken from him. God doubled the livestock lost, and gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters to match the seven sons and three daughters now living in heaven. But perhaps the greatest gift was that glimpse into the future, where Job could see his and our Salvation.

So what about that question of why do senseless tragedies befall men? It is answered fairly early in the book of Job. All human suffering can be traced back to Satan constantly challenging the authority of God. God may not always answer our questions, primarily because we may not be able to grasp His response. But He is always in charge, He is always in control. And in the end Satan will no longer be around, but God will remain at our side.

Job asked "What strength do I have, that I should hope?". God answered by showing him the coming of Jesus our Mediator, the One of whom the Apostle Paul speaks when he proclaims, "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) In Christ we gain strength, in Christ we have hope. Job wonders "What is my end, that I should prolong my life?". He was shown that end: being with God and Christ. It is by God's hands we are brought into this world, it must be by God's hands we are taken from it, not by our own. Glory awaits us.

In the blackest night, in the depths of despair, when strength fails and hope flees, look for that pinpoint of Light gleaming through the darkness. Look to the Lamb who washed you clean of your sins. Reach out for the Mediator who will stand in your defense when you face the ultimate Judge. Look to Christ, and know that our Redeemer lives.

Amen.

Washed in the Blood

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

-- Revelation 7:13-14 (NIRV)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

We Plead With You

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

-- 2 Corinthians 6:1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your Servant Hears

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

-- 1 Samuel 3:10

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

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

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

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

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

Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.

Amen.

Give Unto the Lord

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

-- Psalm 29:1 (NKJV)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To God be all glory and all strength. Amen.

According to Your Faith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am reminded of the hymn:

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

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

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

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

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

Have faith.

Amen.

Where Is Your Heart?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

Comes the Harvest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

Why Are You Here Today?

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

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

-- Psalm 95: 1-7

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

-- Isaiah 66: 1-2

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

-- Ephesians 2: 19-22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be the church.
Amen.

The Way

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

-- John 14:6 (NKJV)

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus is the way. Amen.

Partake of Christ's Sufferings

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

-- 1 Peter 4:12-13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giving Up

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

-- Matthew 16:21 (NIV)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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