Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33
Some time ago, we talked about taking risk in our faith – that a safe faith is no faith at all. In his book “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat”, John Ortberg says he believes our courage, or the lack thereof, is directly related to the size of our God. If we live with a small God, then we live in a constant state of fear and anxiety because everything depends on us. We cannot be generous because our financial security depends on us. We cannot take risks because our safety depends on us.
But if our God is huge – larger than life itself - then nothing can hold us back, nothing can keep us down.
Read Matthew 14:22-24
When I was in the Navy, I remember several storms that came against us. On one particular evening, we were scheduled to refuel from the tanker that was in our group, and neither wind nor waves was going to interrupt that evolution. We pulled alongside the tanker, with a safe distance between us. I was an Electronics Technician, but I was also assigned to the forward refueling detail, and everything that night began in a fairly routine manner. Lines were put across, the messenger lines were pulled in, then the fuel lines. While we were standing on the forecastle going about our efforts, the wind kept us a little off balance, and mist was coming over the bow and soaked us pretty good, but we knew that it was only going to take 10 or 15 minutes to get our work done, so no one was too concerned.
But then it happened. Due to the excessive strain on the pelican hook – the device that held the fuel line to our ship – it broke. And just as we thought that we were going to be relieved and sent back inside the ship, orders changed, and the forward detail was assigned to hold the fuel line with all the strength that was in our arms and legs! So for the next 45 minutes, we alternately were standing at a 45 degree angle to the deck holding the line with all the strength we could muster, or either our feet would start sliding across the deck or we would loose our grasp on the line, loosing the fuel line. We then would have to pull it back up into position, and the process would start all over again. And as if the wind and waves and the exertion wasn’t bad enough, the Boatswains mate was constantly yelling at us to “hold that line”! We could have strangled him!
Eventually, though, we took on enough fuel to satisfy the Chief Engineer, and we got to head back to our berthing compartments to get some dry clothes and some badly need rest.
Storms at sea are nothing to laugh at, and that one has stuck in my memory for 45 years!
We were on a ship that weighed 7,600 tons and was 550 feet long, and we did a lot of bouncing around. Imagine what that storm was doing to the boat that those fishermen were on! We had powerful boilers and turbines to keep us moving, but the disciples had to row if they were to get to the safety of the shore, and it was taking them all night to make any headway.
We weren’t happy about being so exposed on the forecastle that night, but the disciples were in a lot worse condition in their storm than we were in ours! And they were alone without their leader – their “captain”, if you will.
Consider the plight of the church whenever we decide to make our own headway without our Captain present, without our Captain in command of the ship.
Read Matthew 14:25-29
And then the Lord appears to these wet, exhausted, and frightened men. It was the middle of the night – almost early morning – and they were seeing anything but straight! How could anything appear from out of nowhere in the middle of this storm? It couldn’t be human! It had to be an apparition! And then Jesus gives them a calming word and relieves all of their pain.
Now as an aside, I wish I could know just how the disciples felt at that moment. In one instant, they were terrified beyond all belief, and in the next to have a calm and reassurance that allowed them to know that the Lord was with them, and at least in Peter’s case, to call out to Jesus and ask him to invite the disciple to come out and join him. How great a change would have to come over them to allow a request like that? How great a faith must the man have received to even entertain such a thought? But Peter would soon discover that it wasn’t the waves or his great ability or his faith that held him up – it was the fact that as long as he stayed in Jesus, the Lord had a “salvation” hold on him!
Did Peter realize the risk that he was bringing onto himself?
Did he fully appreciate the hazards that the storm held in store for him?
Or did he fully understand these things, but because of the presence of Jesus at that moment, and the grasp that he had on Christ, that the negatives of the moment no longer had any control over him.
Will knowing, without question, that the Christ is with us, truly give us a strength and courage that can overcome any difficulty? It certainly seems that this is what came over Peter and the others, and it will hold us up, too. That’s what faith is all about. It’s faith that allowed Peter to have the confidence to step out of the boat that night, with the full assurance that nothing could harm him if he could just remain focused on Jesus.
They had to set out on this journey alone, knowing only that this is what the Lord wanted them to do. Jesus was nowhere to be seen. They had no idea as to what they would be doing once they got to the other side of the lake. They had no idea that a storm was brewing up and that it would catch them in deep water. They just went.
And sometimes the church is called to go, with no more explanation than that. No real vision of what the destination will look like, or what the task will ultimately be, or what the result of going will be. Will there be trials? Will there be obstacles?
We’re usually pretty good at imagining all of the potential problems in ministry and mission, but how often, even when we are faithful and just “go”, do we have even an inkling of what the final result is going to be? But if we focus on the “storms”, all of those negative possibilities, we will never even get in the boat, much less begin rowing! And what a shame that would be – never getting to know what our faithful start might bring about.
Read Matthew 14:30-33
There is a story of a young Naval Academy graduate, who after completing his first overseas cruise, was given an opportunity to display his talents at getting his ship underway and out of port. The young officer's efficiency established a new record for getting a naval ship underway.
He was stunned, however, when a sailor approached him with a message from their captain. “My personal congratulations upon completing your underway preparations exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. In your haste however, you have overlooked one of the fundamental rules -- make sure the captain is on board before you leave.”
-Bobby Ives, Greetings, Boat Notes, The Carpenter's Boatshop, Fall 1999 Newsletter, 1.
When Peter stepped up on the gunwale, and then out on to the waves, and then began walking toward Jesus, the Captain was fully in charge of his life. No hesitation, no concerns for the storm, no fear of the price that he might have to pay, just solid and unshakable faith. But then his eyes wavered, and his gaze shifted, and his Captain was no longer in charge of his steps. And he began to sink.
And that’s what happens when we decide that the power of earth is greater than the power of God. When we place more faith in the concepts and precepts of our society than we do in the Lord, when the things of earth become more important than the call of the Divine, we will always fail! We can never succeed!
We, too, have to be willing to take a step in faith, just as Peter did. If he had never got in the boat and set off toward the other side of the lake, if, at the first hint of a storm, he and the others had turned around and headed back to where they had come from, if his faith was weak and he never stepped out of that boat that night, he never would have walked on the water.
Don’t think about his failure! Stay focused on his walk on the waves! Stay focused on what was accomplished in faith! Give God the glory for what can be accomplished in a faith that’s the size of a mustard seed!
And when Jesus caught Peter’s hand and helped him back into the boat, the storm died out immediately. The winds didn’t stop when Peter left the relative safety of the boat, and Jesus didn’t stop the winds when Peter began to sink. The winds stopped when, and only when, the experience was completed, and it was then that the disciples fell down and began to worship the Lord with their entire being.
The church is called, over and over again, to get up and go. A direction may be given, but many times, there is no more than that. And when we respond to Christ’s call on our church, we can also expect that storms and other difficulties will also appear to make our way nearly impossible. But we can never turn back from what we feel the Lord is leading us into, even when the storms seem to be poised to destroy us. And it is at that very moment that, in faith, we need to stand up and say “Lord, give us even greater faith, that we might do the impossible in your name!”
We may think that we have been doing well in our faithfulness, but the truth is that we have only begun. When we head off into the unknown, trusting only that this is where the Lord wants us to go, we had better be prepared to row as hard as we possibly can, and when the winds begin to blow, and we are soaked to the skin, and we feel as though can’t row another stroke, that is the very time when we need to stand even taller, prepared to take that step that we know for certain is impossible to do.
“Get out of the Boat” must become the church’s principle of faith, for if we aren’t willing to take that step, the storms of this life are going to win. And that is not an acceptable future for the church that Jesus died and rose again for, the church that he came to save.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
“Always One, Never Apart”
Scripture: Romans 8:28-39
We had a great vacation last week. We had some family pictures taken (Yes, I have a copy of one to show after worship!), we had a snow ball fight on Mount Rainier while clothed in short sleeve shirts and sun glasses, we “lunched” on the Space Needle, we made a few runs to the landfill, and attended worship several times with Nate and Bev. Their church is a little larger than ours are, even if you add them together! Their sanctuary holds about 600 and at a couple of services it was nearly full, they have 3 preaching pastors, a 6-7 piece band, and about 45 in the choir. The pastors, as well as the people, were very friendly and welcoming to us, but to tell you the truth, I missed my church family here.
As Nathan was introducing us to a number of the folks at his church, many commented on the family resemblance and how obvious it was that Diane and I were his parents. Sometimes family likeness is in appearance, sometimes in laughter or voice or mannerisms, and sometimes in attitude. But when it comes to family, there is always some characteristic that says “we belong to each other”!
Read Romans 8:28-30
No wonder Christians are said to bear a family resemblance to the Savior! We have been conformed to the image of Christ, and in that, we have been called and justified and glorified, just as Christ is glorified. But note that this predestination isn’t due to some random or indiscriminate decision. Verse 29 tells us that God “foreknew” us, and that is a very important distinction. Many people seem to settle on the predestined part, and claim that God has chosen them over everyone else, but it is always for some unknown reason. The truth is that the choice is all about “knowing”, and the “knowing” must work both ways.
In Matthew 7:15-23, Jesus warns us that just because we cry out “Lord, Lord, haven’t we prophesied in your name, and driven out demons in your name?”, that is no guarantee that we will be allowed to enter through the gates of heaven! Jesus will tell many that he never knew them, regardless of how well they may have lived in this life! So how does God decide who he is going to “know” and who he is not going to “know”? It seems that scripture tells us that we must also know him – not know about him, not know of him, but truly and fully know him. We read several times in scripture that even the demons know who Jesus is Mark 5:1-20, Luke 4:31-41, James 2:18-19). And while Jesus knows who the demons are in return, he also knows them for whose they are, and that they are not of him! In John 10:1-10, Jesus says that his “sheep”, those who he “knows”, also know his voice and listen to his words. It isn’t enough to know who Jesus is, it isn’t enough to make proclamations in his name, it isn’t even enough to do apparent miracles in his name. If we want Jesus to know us, if we want to be conformed in his likeness, if we want others to see the family resemblance that we have to God, then we must listen to the Savior’s voice and do his will, not our own.
God knows us, and predestines us, and conforms us, and calls us, and
justifies us, and glorifies us, but only when we surrender our lives to his Son, who, incidentally, the Father has given to us for this very purpose.
And when we listen, and when we follow, and when we fully and truly know Jesus, what will come of it?
Read Romans 8:31-36
If we are for Jesus, then God will be for us. If we claim Jesus as our own, then God will claim us as his own. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” That doesn’t mean, however, that everyone is going to love us and respect us. As a matter of fact it means quite the opposite. But when we read down a couple of verses, we discover the meaning of those words - that in the final judgment, the deciding question will be “Whose family resemblance do we bear?”
If it is that of Christ, then no one can bring any charge of failure, any charge of inadequacy, any charge of unworthiness except Jesus Christ Himself. Only Christ can condemn, and only Christ can raise us up to eternal life! And it is Christ alone who will present our case before the judgment seat. Not our friends, not the pastor (Thank you Lord!), and definitely not Satan or his minions! It will be Christ in and of and through his grace! Period!
The American writer and theologian Frederick Buechner writes:
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universes. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.
--Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (New York: Harper&Row, 1973), 33-34.
Grace is a gift. Justification and glory are gifts of God’s grace. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. Being conformed to the image of Christ is also a gift of that same grace. But all too often, we miss the gift. Our eyes are glossed over by the trials of the world, and all we can focus on is the failures of this life, or the attacks that come from others, or the impending finality of our earthly flesh. There are some days when nothing seems to be going our way.
The words that we read in verse 36 – “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” – these can all too easily become our watch words, our focal point in this existence. Those words are from Psalm 44:22, and the verses that follows read (:23-24) “Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”
Some might even think that this life is the end! Our judgment!
Read Romans 8:37-39
Do we really think that the Lord is vindictive? Egocentric? That he is that insensitive to our plight? God is not asleep! He has not rejected us! He has not hidden himself from us!
What he has done is that he made us to be conquerors in the image of Jesus Christ! But not a conqueror in the earthly sense – we are actually a conqueror of the earthly sense, a victor in eternal life and in Godly grace and Divine mercy that flows to all who claim salvation in Christ Jesus. And these last 2 verses are our shout of victory. Paul writes that the end of this life in physical death cannot break the bond that unites us with the eternal God, and nothing in our physical life can cause the Lord to turn his back on us; that all the angels of God nor all the demons of Satan can ever convince the Glory to cast us aside, that our situation today, as painful and disappointing as it may be, is not in the least way justification for God to hate us, and the life that may turn against us tomorrow will never mean that we have been deserted by Almighty God; that there is no power in all of creation – not the power in heaven and definitely not the power of hell, not on our best days and never on our worse days, not the power of salvation and not the threat of condemnation – nothing – nothing! - can ever make God turn away from those who are in Christ Jesus!
It’s about family. Our human families are fallible, and sometimes our love for each other wobbles and stumbles and breaks. And when that happens, it usually takes a lot of time and a great amount of personal effort to repair the damage. But the family resemblance must prevail, otherwise it is just a coincidence and not a family at all.
It’s about family. We are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ – not by some arbitrary standard, not by our worthiness, and certainly not because we have earned it – but because we simply claim the offer is described in John 3:12-19; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but the save the world through him.” Not through us or anything about us – it's through him.
Family sticks together through thick and thin, and God’s family is no different. God will never break the relationship – nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and that is our promise for eternity.
Never forgotten, never forsaken, always one in him.
We had a great vacation last week. We had some family pictures taken (Yes, I have a copy of one to show after worship!), we had a snow ball fight on Mount Rainier while clothed in short sleeve shirts and sun glasses, we “lunched” on the Space Needle, we made a few runs to the landfill, and attended worship several times with Nate and Bev. Their church is a little larger than ours are, even if you add them together! Their sanctuary holds about 600 and at a couple of services it was nearly full, they have 3 preaching pastors, a 6-7 piece band, and about 45 in the choir. The pastors, as well as the people, were very friendly and welcoming to us, but to tell you the truth, I missed my church family here.
As Nathan was introducing us to a number of the folks at his church, many commented on the family resemblance and how obvious it was that Diane and I were his parents. Sometimes family likeness is in appearance, sometimes in laughter or voice or mannerisms, and sometimes in attitude. But when it comes to family, there is always some characteristic that says “we belong to each other”!
Read Romans 8:28-30
No wonder Christians are said to bear a family resemblance to the Savior! We have been conformed to the image of Christ, and in that, we have been called and justified and glorified, just as Christ is glorified. But note that this predestination isn’t due to some random or indiscriminate decision. Verse 29 tells us that God “foreknew” us, and that is a very important distinction. Many people seem to settle on the predestined part, and claim that God has chosen them over everyone else, but it is always for some unknown reason. The truth is that the choice is all about “knowing”, and the “knowing” must work both ways.
In Matthew 7:15-23, Jesus warns us that just because we cry out “Lord, Lord, haven’t we prophesied in your name, and driven out demons in your name?”, that is no guarantee that we will be allowed to enter through the gates of heaven! Jesus will tell many that he never knew them, regardless of how well they may have lived in this life! So how does God decide who he is going to “know” and who he is not going to “know”? It seems that scripture tells us that we must also know him – not know about him, not know of him, but truly and fully know him. We read several times in scripture that even the demons know who Jesus is Mark 5:1-20, Luke 4:31-41, James 2:18-19). And while Jesus knows who the demons are in return, he also knows them for whose they are, and that they are not of him! In John 10:1-10, Jesus says that his “sheep”, those who he “knows”, also know his voice and listen to his words. It isn’t enough to know who Jesus is, it isn’t enough to make proclamations in his name, it isn’t even enough to do apparent miracles in his name. If we want Jesus to know us, if we want to be conformed in his likeness, if we want others to see the family resemblance that we have to God, then we must listen to the Savior’s voice and do his will, not our own.
God knows us, and predestines us, and conforms us, and calls us, and
justifies us, and glorifies us, but only when we surrender our lives to his Son, who, incidentally, the Father has given to us for this very purpose.
And when we listen, and when we follow, and when we fully and truly know Jesus, what will come of it?
Read Romans 8:31-36
If we are for Jesus, then God will be for us. If we claim Jesus as our own, then God will claim us as his own. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” That doesn’t mean, however, that everyone is going to love us and respect us. As a matter of fact it means quite the opposite. But when we read down a couple of verses, we discover the meaning of those words - that in the final judgment, the deciding question will be “Whose family resemblance do we bear?”
If it is that of Christ, then no one can bring any charge of failure, any charge of inadequacy, any charge of unworthiness except Jesus Christ Himself. Only Christ can condemn, and only Christ can raise us up to eternal life! And it is Christ alone who will present our case before the judgment seat. Not our friends, not the pastor (Thank you Lord!), and definitely not Satan or his minions! It will be Christ in and of and through his grace! Period!
The American writer and theologian Frederick Buechner writes:
Grace is something you can never get but only be given. The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universes. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.
--Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (New York: Harper&Row, 1973), 33-34.
Grace is a gift. Justification and glory are gifts of God’s grace. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. Being conformed to the image of Christ is also a gift of that same grace. But all too often, we miss the gift. Our eyes are glossed over by the trials of the world, and all we can focus on is the failures of this life, or the attacks that come from others, or the impending finality of our earthly flesh. There are some days when nothing seems to be going our way.
The words that we read in verse 36 – “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” – these can all too easily become our watch words, our focal point in this existence. Those words are from Psalm 44:22, and the verses that follows read (:23-24) “Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”
Some might even think that this life is the end! Our judgment!
Read Romans 8:37-39
Do we really think that the Lord is vindictive? Egocentric? That he is that insensitive to our plight? God is not asleep! He has not rejected us! He has not hidden himself from us!
What he has done is that he made us to be conquerors in the image of Jesus Christ! But not a conqueror in the earthly sense – we are actually a conqueror of the earthly sense, a victor in eternal life and in Godly grace and Divine mercy that flows to all who claim salvation in Christ Jesus. And these last 2 verses are our shout of victory. Paul writes that the end of this life in physical death cannot break the bond that unites us with the eternal God, and nothing in our physical life can cause the Lord to turn his back on us; that all the angels of God nor all the demons of Satan can ever convince the Glory to cast us aside, that our situation today, as painful and disappointing as it may be, is not in the least way justification for God to hate us, and the life that may turn against us tomorrow will never mean that we have been deserted by Almighty God; that there is no power in all of creation – not the power in heaven and definitely not the power of hell, not on our best days and never on our worse days, not the power of salvation and not the threat of condemnation – nothing – nothing! - can ever make God turn away from those who are in Christ Jesus!
It’s about family. Our human families are fallible, and sometimes our love for each other wobbles and stumbles and breaks. And when that happens, it usually takes a lot of time and a great amount of personal effort to repair the damage. But the family resemblance must prevail, otherwise it is just a coincidence and not a family at all.
It’s about family. We are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ – not by some arbitrary standard, not by our worthiness, and certainly not because we have earned it – but because we simply claim the offer is described in John 3:12-19; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but the save the world through him.” Not through us or anything about us – it's through him.
Family sticks together through thick and thin, and God’s family is no different. God will never break the relationship – nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and that is our promise for eternity.
Never forgotten, never forsaken, always one in him.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
“Where Do You Keep God’s Word?”
Scripture: Romans 10:1-15
Last week, we took a look at how humanity always seems to come up short when we try to understand what God is all about. Sometimes it is simply because we are imperfect humans, but other times, it is because we try to mold the Lord into our image instead of allowing him to mold us into his.
This week, we consider a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, in which he sets the story straight – that it isn’t our rationalization and intelligence that is critical in our understanding of what Jesus has been teaching us. It is quite the opposite – it is only by our surrender and acceptance to Christ’s call that will lead us to eternity. Romans 10 is about our renewed and covenantal life in Jesus Christ.
Read Romans 10:1-4
“Their zeal is not based on knowledge.” Zeal is a passion, a fervor that comes from understanding, but it can never be limited to that knowledge. Zeal inspires us to take an unpopular stand, when intelligence would have us run away! Zeal strengthens us in our resolve to never give up, while intelligence would lead us to evaluation, not necessarily resolve. Zeal focuses our life and it becomes our trusted way. But when Intelligence becomes our focus, we begin to put our trust in it.
And zeal, when it is based on a false ideal or concept, will become worse than useless. It will lead us unfailingly in the wrong direction. It will become the basis for even more false decisions. It will motivate us to spread the deception and to lead others into our delusion. This was Paul’s type of zeal before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, so he knew very well what he was talking about!
Misplaced zeal is a dangerous thing, and Paul is issuing a call to return to the truth of righteousness. His warning rings as true today as it did 2,000 years ago – that we can never create our own blameless and honorable nature. Righteousness can only come from righteousness, and the Lord is the only true source of that perfect virtue. Perfect righteousness can only come through our surrender to the Lord’s covenantal offering.
He also tells us that Christ is “the end of the law”. Now, many today would take this to mean that Jesus has rendered the law as moot, that it is no longer necessary or pertinent for our lives, that it is old and outdated. And we see evidence of this attitude all around us.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3-7) is no longer an absolute. Not only does our society tells us that we must be accepting of all other faith expressions, but many have begun to worship the gods of earth – those of personal pleasure, of financial worth, of power and control, of greed, and many others.
- “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11) So much for that one! But remember that Sabbath isn’t just going to church on Sunday – it’s a day that you set aside for the Lord, to focus on him in worship and study and sacrifice.
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-12) I think that our love of self has surged to the fore, and is now way ahead of that for God, and when this happens, there isn’t a lot of love left over for him.
But the truth is that we have to fall back on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17-20. Jesus is the “end” of the law, but not as an abolitionist. He came to finally make it complete and perfect. There will be no more commandments given, no more amendments offered, no more limitations and exceptions granted. There will be no more changes that can possibly improve on that Divine Word!
Righteousness is now available to all who will come to Christ as repentant, humbled, and forgiven servants of his.
Read Romans 10:5-9
If we depend on the law and our interpretation of what it means for us, then salvation can only come by following it completely and perfectly, which, if you hadn’t noticed, no one has ever been able to do! We know that the law has no righteousness and no redemptive power. Its only authority is punitive, and our failure in the law can only lead to condemnation. But when the law is combined with the grace of Jesus Christ, when we claim both – Christ and Law - as one, when we live the very best life that we can but still fail, when we turn to the Almighty God and his redemption, then and only then can salvation become our greatest hope.
But where do we find the Almighty God? Where is the Lord and his righteousness? Verses 6-8 seem to ask and answer this eternal question.
Do we have to go to heaven to find him?
Must we crawl down into the pit to find him?
Paul tells us that neither journey is necessary, as the Lord of all creation, the King of Kings, the Prince of heaven and earth, the very Word of God is as near as our own heart and lips! If we believe with all of our heart that Jesus Christ is the Living Lord, and confess this glorious truth of God with our words, we will be saved! Hallelujah! We can receive Christ’s righteousness, his salvation, and we can experience his glory solely through our faith in him! Praise the Lord!
Read Romans 10:10-15
So where do you keep God’s word? Is it in a place so that all might see it, or is it hidden carefully away? Is his word shared with great joy, or do you silently fear it? Is your trust completely in Christ, or do you trust the opinions of others more and are frightened by what they may think about your faith, should you ever express it?
Verse 11 reminds us that anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Romans 8:1-4 compliments this thought - “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Do we prefer the admiration of the world, or the love of Jesus Christ? It’s very seldom that we receive both, so we get to choose!
Where is God’s word in you?
From the New Interpreter’s Bible’s commentary on this passage from Romans:
The main theme of the passage is the covenant renewal, and covenant redefinition, that has taken place in the Messiah. God has done what he has always promised; and what he had promised, in the crucial Deuteronomy 30, was that after the punishment of the exile he would restore Israel, enabling it to keep the law in a new way. The Israel of Paul’s day, his kinfolk according to the flesh, did not understand this; they did not, in other words, understand the … righteousness of God. They did not understand either how God had been true to the covenant all along, or how he was now doing exactly what he had promised in renewing that covenant and bringing Gentiles into membership, by faith, alongside believing Jews. But the covenant renewal that has taken place in and through Jesus the Messiah, the world’s true Lord, is – so Paul argues – the renewal spoken of in Deuteronomy 30. At its heart is faith; faith in this Jesus, faith that is open to all, faith by which all may be saved.
- New Interpreters Bible, Commentary on Romans 10
It is about Jesus, the Word of God, and him alone.
But the last 2 verses of our lesson for today asks 4 questions regarding the sharing of the word. Paul asks us these 4 questions that almost seem rhetorical in nature, but which all actually have the same answer:
1. “How can anyone call out to one who they don’t believe in?”
And the answer is “They can’t and they never will.”
2. “And how can they believe in one if they have never heard about him?”
And again, the answer is “They can’t and they never will.”
3. “And how will they ever hear about him if no one shares him with them?”
And the answer is still “They can’t and they never will.”
4. “And how can they share this wonderful story if they have never been sent?”
And the answer has not changed – “They can’t and they never will!”
Has everyone here today ever heard any preaching about the righteousness of God that comes to us in the redemptive Spirit of Jesus Christ? And if you have heard, do you believe in the Anointed one of God, the only one who can bring about salvation for our lives? And if you truly believe in Christ and his great works on our behalf, do you call on him and his Spirit on a daily basis? And if you call on him, do you do it out of love for him, a love that fills your entire heart and soul and strength?
If so, then the last question for today must be this – If you have heard, and if you believe, and if you call, and if you love, are you sharing the precious Word of God with others? If you are, then Praise the Lord! If you aren’t, then I have to ask “Why not?”
Paul writes that the evidence of righteousness in faith is that the word of Jesus Christ is near and dear to us; that it must sit in our heart and reside upon our lips, poised to spill out upon the world at a moment’s notice.
When was the last time you proclaimed out loud that Jesus Christ is Lord? Maybe today is that time! Praise him loudly with the joyful words “Jesus Christ is Lord!” “Glory to God!” “Hallelujah!” Share those marvelous words with others, just as you have right now!
Last week, we took a look at how humanity always seems to come up short when we try to understand what God is all about. Sometimes it is simply because we are imperfect humans, but other times, it is because we try to mold the Lord into our image instead of allowing him to mold us into his.
This week, we consider a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, in which he sets the story straight – that it isn’t our rationalization and intelligence that is critical in our understanding of what Jesus has been teaching us. It is quite the opposite – it is only by our surrender and acceptance to Christ’s call that will lead us to eternity. Romans 10 is about our renewed and covenantal life in Jesus Christ.
Read Romans 10:1-4
“Their zeal is not based on knowledge.” Zeal is a passion, a fervor that comes from understanding, but it can never be limited to that knowledge. Zeal inspires us to take an unpopular stand, when intelligence would have us run away! Zeal strengthens us in our resolve to never give up, while intelligence would lead us to evaluation, not necessarily resolve. Zeal focuses our life and it becomes our trusted way. But when Intelligence becomes our focus, we begin to put our trust in it.
And zeal, when it is based on a false ideal or concept, will become worse than useless. It will lead us unfailingly in the wrong direction. It will become the basis for even more false decisions. It will motivate us to spread the deception and to lead others into our delusion. This was Paul’s type of zeal before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, so he knew very well what he was talking about!
Misplaced zeal is a dangerous thing, and Paul is issuing a call to return to the truth of righteousness. His warning rings as true today as it did 2,000 years ago – that we can never create our own blameless and honorable nature. Righteousness can only come from righteousness, and the Lord is the only true source of that perfect virtue. Perfect righteousness can only come through our surrender to the Lord’s covenantal offering.
He also tells us that Christ is “the end of the law”. Now, many today would take this to mean that Jesus has rendered the law as moot, that it is no longer necessary or pertinent for our lives, that it is old and outdated. And we see evidence of this attitude all around us.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3-7) is no longer an absolute. Not only does our society tells us that we must be accepting of all other faith expressions, but many have begun to worship the gods of earth – those of personal pleasure, of financial worth, of power and control, of greed, and many others.
- “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11) So much for that one! But remember that Sabbath isn’t just going to church on Sunday – it’s a day that you set aside for the Lord, to focus on him in worship and study and sacrifice.
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-12) I think that our love of self has surged to the fore, and is now way ahead of that for God, and when this happens, there isn’t a lot of love left over for him.
But the truth is that we have to fall back on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:17-20. Jesus is the “end” of the law, but not as an abolitionist. He came to finally make it complete and perfect. There will be no more commandments given, no more amendments offered, no more limitations and exceptions granted. There will be no more changes that can possibly improve on that Divine Word!
Righteousness is now available to all who will come to Christ as repentant, humbled, and forgiven servants of his.
Read Romans 10:5-9
If we depend on the law and our interpretation of what it means for us, then salvation can only come by following it completely and perfectly, which, if you hadn’t noticed, no one has ever been able to do! We know that the law has no righteousness and no redemptive power. Its only authority is punitive, and our failure in the law can only lead to condemnation. But when the law is combined with the grace of Jesus Christ, when we claim both – Christ and Law - as one, when we live the very best life that we can but still fail, when we turn to the Almighty God and his redemption, then and only then can salvation become our greatest hope.
But where do we find the Almighty God? Where is the Lord and his righteousness? Verses 6-8 seem to ask and answer this eternal question.
Do we have to go to heaven to find him?
Must we crawl down into the pit to find him?
Paul tells us that neither journey is necessary, as the Lord of all creation, the King of Kings, the Prince of heaven and earth, the very Word of God is as near as our own heart and lips! If we believe with all of our heart that Jesus Christ is the Living Lord, and confess this glorious truth of God with our words, we will be saved! Hallelujah! We can receive Christ’s righteousness, his salvation, and we can experience his glory solely through our faith in him! Praise the Lord!
Read Romans 10:10-15
So where do you keep God’s word? Is it in a place so that all might see it, or is it hidden carefully away? Is his word shared with great joy, or do you silently fear it? Is your trust completely in Christ, or do you trust the opinions of others more and are frightened by what they may think about your faith, should you ever express it?
Verse 11 reminds us that anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Romans 8:1-4 compliments this thought - “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Do we prefer the admiration of the world, or the love of Jesus Christ? It’s very seldom that we receive both, so we get to choose!
Where is God’s word in you?
From the New Interpreter’s Bible’s commentary on this passage from Romans:
The main theme of the passage is the covenant renewal, and covenant redefinition, that has taken place in the Messiah. God has done what he has always promised; and what he had promised, in the crucial Deuteronomy 30, was that after the punishment of the exile he would restore Israel, enabling it to keep the law in a new way. The Israel of Paul’s day, his kinfolk according to the flesh, did not understand this; they did not, in other words, understand the … righteousness of God. They did not understand either how God had been true to the covenant all along, or how he was now doing exactly what he had promised in renewing that covenant and bringing Gentiles into membership, by faith, alongside believing Jews. But the covenant renewal that has taken place in and through Jesus the Messiah, the world’s true Lord, is – so Paul argues – the renewal spoken of in Deuteronomy 30. At its heart is faith; faith in this Jesus, faith that is open to all, faith by which all may be saved.
- New Interpreters Bible, Commentary on Romans 10
It is about Jesus, the Word of God, and him alone.
But the last 2 verses of our lesson for today asks 4 questions regarding the sharing of the word. Paul asks us these 4 questions that almost seem rhetorical in nature, but which all actually have the same answer:
1. “How can anyone call out to one who they don’t believe in?”
And the answer is “They can’t and they never will.”
2. “And how can they believe in one if they have never heard about him?”
And again, the answer is “They can’t and they never will.”
3. “And how will they ever hear about him if no one shares him with them?”
And the answer is still “They can’t and they never will.”
4. “And how can they share this wonderful story if they have never been sent?”
And the answer has not changed – “They can’t and they never will!”
Has everyone here today ever heard any preaching about the righteousness of God that comes to us in the redemptive Spirit of Jesus Christ? And if you have heard, do you believe in the Anointed one of God, the only one who can bring about salvation for our lives? And if you truly believe in Christ and his great works on our behalf, do you call on him and his Spirit on a daily basis? And if you call on him, do you do it out of love for him, a love that fills your entire heart and soul and strength?
If so, then the last question for today must be this – If you have heard, and if you believe, and if you call, and if you love, are you sharing the precious Word of God with others? If you are, then Praise the Lord! If you aren’t, then I have to ask “Why not?”
Paul writes that the evidence of righteousness in faith is that the word of Jesus Christ is near and dear to us; that it must sit in our heart and reside upon our lips, poised to spill out upon the world at a moment’s notice.
When was the last time you proclaimed out loud that Jesus Christ is Lord? Maybe today is that time! Praise him loudly with the joyful words “Jesus Christ is Lord!” “Glory to God!” “Hallelujah!” Share those marvelous words with others, just as you have right now!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
“Drunkards, Demons, and Blindness”
Scripture: Matthew 11:16-30
There's a story of a garment buyer who traveled to Korea on a buying trip. It was his job to purchase vast quantities of clothing for a large department store in New York. After a banquet where he was wined and dined by his Korean hosts, he, as the guest of honor, was invited to speak before all the would-be suppliers.
He told a long and complicated joke, after which only he laughed, since he only spoke English. The translator stood and said a few short sentences in Korean. The hall broke loose. Men cried, they clapped, they whistled, they screamed. The buyer was pleased that he was such a success, but curious how his long story could be so compressed and still carry such punch.
What did the interpreter say to them? He later asked someone who had been present. The interpreter said, “Fat man with big checkbook told funny story. Do what you think appropriate.”
- Homeletics Online
All the folks needed to appreciate the story was the perspective! And we need perspective on the viewpoints of others if we are to understand what they are all about, and Jesus understands that. He understands our failure to follow him, he understands our love that tends to be weak and ineffectual at times, he understands that we can be self centered and arrogant in our relationships with others, and he understands our need to be forgiven.
Humanity on the other hand, seldom, if ever, understands what God is about.
Read Matthew 11:16-19
Throughout history, the rift that has developed between us and God is not so much due to our sinful nature as it is to our failure to understand and appreciate God for who he truly is. We want him to be like us. We want him to think and act and reason like we do. We want him to follow the same standards that guide our world, to administer justice by a myriad of definitions to suit the desires of each and every individual, and to see our human condition through the same bloodshot and bleary eyes that we see through.
Neither John nor Jesus could walk in an earthly context, and therefore they were labeled as outcasts – John as being demon possessed, and Jesus as a fat old drunk.
But we’ve got it backward. We need to set our “rose colored glasses” aside, and see Jesus and his ways without a worldly tint.
Fuller Seminary president Richard Mouw, in his book Distorted Truth: What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Battle for the Mind, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1989), contends that there are two distances that separate us from a complete knowledge of the absolutes that could guide our lives (145).
The first is the distance between creature and Creator. This is an eternal distance. It will never go away. Since God is infinite and we are finite, we will never know as God knows. This means that there may very well be dimensions of God's moral standards that we will never fully understand.
The second distance separates the way we are now from the way we will someday be. We shall be changed. We will never know as God knows, but we will someday understand things much better than we do now: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
--Donald C. Posterski, "True to You: Living Our Faith in Our Multi-minded World", Canada: Wood Lake Books, Inc., 1995), 56.
Since John was offering a message that went completely against the conventional thought of the day, and whose appearance and living was as unconventional as his message, it was assumed that he was being controlled by something other than Divine inspiration.
Since Jesus, who some claimed to be Messiah, was acting totally different than the way that God should, or rather was expected, to act, he too wasn’t to be trusted. Why in the world would God, or any holy man for that matter, want to spend time socializing with the likes of “those people”? He must be addicted to food and drink. This Jesus must be an addict! Shame on him!
When you don’t understand the message, and when you don’t trust the messenger, and when you can’t make the messenger change the tune, then the only option left is to drag the other person down to your level.
Read Matthew 11:20-24
We don’t read a lot about Korazin and Bethsaida in scripture, but we see Capernaum mentioned quite often. Capernaum became the unofficial home for Jesus during his ministry, if Jesus could ever claim to have a single place called “home” (Matthew 4:12-16). And he pronounces a word of condemnation on all three.
Was it because of their wicked existence?
Was it because they had completely rejected Jesus and his teaching?
Apparently not!
The passage says that the “woes” are declared on each one because they had received the teachings, but did not repent of their ways!
Miracles had been performed in the cities, and the people must have seen that Jesus was no ordinary man. But they didn’t take the next step.
They had heard the teaching, and they had to have known that Jesus had an authority unlike any other in all of history. But they didn’t take the words to heart.
They heard the words and experienced the miracles, but were blind to the meaning. They had been with the Messiah, and somehow never quite came to understand the blessing that the Lord was offering them. So who will actually be the eternal outcast? Jesus tells them that on the Judgment Day, even Sodom, the city that had been destroyed by the rain of heavenly fire, would fare much better than they would.
Read Matthew 11:25-30
“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to who the Son chooses to reveal him.”
And who does Jesus choose? All who will follow him and who will put the things of earth far behind them.
So what can we learn from this passage?
First, that even though Jesus’ teaching isn’t always clear and concise and straightforward, even though he taught using parables so that the meaning might be hidden, that shouldn’t prevent us from being his disciple.
Second, just because the teaching isn’t always to our liking, that is no reason to reject the teacher and the things he stands for.
And third, the decision as to who will be an outcast in the world resides in the hearts and minds of mankind. But the authority for casting out in eternity is God’s and God’s alone.
And who will get to know the Father and his great plan? Those who come to Jesus Christ and claim him as the authority for their life.
John was accused of being demon lead, but only because he didn’t dance to the tune that the world played. Jesus was ridiculed for eating and drinking and rejoicing with sinners, but only because he didn’t teach the lessons that the world wanted to hear.
Jesus knew about rejection, and that is what he is telling us in the last 3 verses of our lesson today. If you are being ridiculed and rejected by the people of this world, he understands. And if, in our misery, in our exhaustion, in our failure, in our pain, we turn it all over to Christ, we will come to know a life in the here and now that we can live with, and we will know a life in the eternal that will give us far more than we could ever hope and dream about.
Drunkenness, demon possession, blindness, deafness – Jesus knows about it all, and wants us to know that the woes pronounced on the 3 cities don’t have to be the final word for our lives, and that the only tune that we need to dance to is his. And what a glorious dance it will be!
There's a story of a garment buyer who traveled to Korea on a buying trip. It was his job to purchase vast quantities of clothing for a large department store in New York. After a banquet where he was wined and dined by his Korean hosts, he, as the guest of honor, was invited to speak before all the would-be suppliers.
He told a long and complicated joke, after which only he laughed, since he only spoke English. The translator stood and said a few short sentences in Korean. The hall broke loose. Men cried, they clapped, they whistled, they screamed. The buyer was pleased that he was such a success, but curious how his long story could be so compressed and still carry such punch.
What did the interpreter say to them? He later asked someone who had been present. The interpreter said, “Fat man with big checkbook told funny story. Do what you think appropriate.”
- Homeletics Online
All the folks needed to appreciate the story was the perspective! And we need perspective on the viewpoints of others if we are to understand what they are all about, and Jesus understands that. He understands our failure to follow him, he understands our love that tends to be weak and ineffectual at times, he understands that we can be self centered and arrogant in our relationships with others, and he understands our need to be forgiven.
Humanity on the other hand, seldom, if ever, understands what God is about.
Read Matthew 11:16-19
Throughout history, the rift that has developed between us and God is not so much due to our sinful nature as it is to our failure to understand and appreciate God for who he truly is. We want him to be like us. We want him to think and act and reason like we do. We want him to follow the same standards that guide our world, to administer justice by a myriad of definitions to suit the desires of each and every individual, and to see our human condition through the same bloodshot and bleary eyes that we see through.
Neither John nor Jesus could walk in an earthly context, and therefore they were labeled as outcasts – John as being demon possessed, and Jesus as a fat old drunk.
But we’ve got it backward. We need to set our “rose colored glasses” aside, and see Jesus and his ways without a worldly tint.
Fuller Seminary president Richard Mouw, in his book Distorted Truth: What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Battle for the Mind, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1989), contends that there are two distances that separate us from a complete knowledge of the absolutes that could guide our lives (145).
The first is the distance between creature and Creator. This is an eternal distance. It will never go away. Since God is infinite and we are finite, we will never know as God knows. This means that there may very well be dimensions of God's moral standards that we will never fully understand.
The second distance separates the way we are now from the way we will someday be. We shall be changed. We will never know as God knows, but we will someday understand things much better than we do now: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
--Donald C. Posterski, "True to You: Living Our Faith in Our Multi-minded World", Canada: Wood Lake Books, Inc., 1995), 56.
Since John was offering a message that went completely against the conventional thought of the day, and whose appearance and living was as unconventional as his message, it was assumed that he was being controlled by something other than Divine inspiration.
Since Jesus, who some claimed to be Messiah, was acting totally different than the way that God should, or rather was expected, to act, he too wasn’t to be trusted. Why in the world would God, or any holy man for that matter, want to spend time socializing with the likes of “those people”? He must be addicted to food and drink. This Jesus must be an addict! Shame on him!
When you don’t understand the message, and when you don’t trust the messenger, and when you can’t make the messenger change the tune, then the only option left is to drag the other person down to your level.
Read Matthew 11:20-24
We don’t read a lot about Korazin and Bethsaida in scripture, but we see Capernaum mentioned quite often. Capernaum became the unofficial home for Jesus during his ministry, if Jesus could ever claim to have a single place called “home” (Matthew 4:12-16). And he pronounces a word of condemnation on all three.
Was it because of their wicked existence?
Was it because they had completely rejected Jesus and his teaching?
Apparently not!
The passage says that the “woes” are declared on each one because they had received the teachings, but did not repent of their ways!
Miracles had been performed in the cities, and the people must have seen that Jesus was no ordinary man. But they didn’t take the next step.
They had heard the teaching, and they had to have known that Jesus had an authority unlike any other in all of history. But they didn’t take the words to heart.
They heard the words and experienced the miracles, but were blind to the meaning. They had been with the Messiah, and somehow never quite came to understand the blessing that the Lord was offering them. So who will actually be the eternal outcast? Jesus tells them that on the Judgment Day, even Sodom, the city that had been destroyed by the rain of heavenly fire, would fare much better than they would.
Read Matthew 11:25-30
“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to who the Son chooses to reveal him.”
And who does Jesus choose? All who will follow him and who will put the things of earth far behind them.
So what can we learn from this passage?
First, that even though Jesus’ teaching isn’t always clear and concise and straightforward, even though he taught using parables so that the meaning might be hidden, that shouldn’t prevent us from being his disciple.
Second, just because the teaching isn’t always to our liking, that is no reason to reject the teacher and the things he stands for.
And third, the decision as to who will be an outcast in the world resides in the hearts and minds of mankind. But the authority for casting out in eternity is God’s and God’s alone.
And who will get to know the Father and his great plan? Those who come to Jesus Christ and claim him as the authority for their life.
John was accused of being demon lead, but only because he didn’t dance to the tune that the world played. Jesus was ridiculed for eating and drinking and rejoicing with sinners, but only because he didn’t teach the lessons that the world wanted to hear.
Jesus knew about rejection, and that is what he is telling us in the last 3 verses of our lesson today. If you are being ridiculed and rejected by the people of this world, he understands. And if, in our misery, in our exhaustion, in our failure, in our pain, we turn it all over to Christ, we will come to know a life in the here and now that we can live with, and we will know a life in the eternal that will give us far more than we could ever hope and dream about.
Drunkenness, demon possession, blindness, deafness – Jesus knows about it all, and wants us to know that the woes pronounced on the 3 cities don’t have to be the final word for our lives, and that the only tune that we need to dance to is his. And what a glorious dance it will be!
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