Scripture: Joshua 3:7-17
One of the greatest struggles in the church today is that of “Trust”! We are under attack by the world, and we know that Christ is our only hope for victory, but how often do we really trust the Holy Spirit enough to follow him wherever we are led?
We want the Spirit to follow us and support us in whatever efforts we may decide are worthwhile. Of course, Satan also has plans for us, and when we decide to make our own way, we get lost. And even when we are on the Lord’s path, Satan is actively attempting to thwart our efforts, and we seldom know whether we are heading in the right direction or if we are completely turned around and heading “God knows where”! It all comes back to trusting that the Lord has a plan for both our lives and his Church, and in our faithful discipleship, we need to seek his leading and guidance, and to know the difference between the Lord’s plan and the world’s.
So how do we know the difference? Usually, it is simply a matter of prayer, being as direct as possible in our inquiries, and then waiting for the perfect answer. But other times, it’s a more a matter of taking a step in faith - not waiting for the proof, not waiting for certainty – but simply going wherever the Spirit seems to be leading us.
Read Joshua 3:7-13
Now there’s a challenge! Joshua hears the message directly from God, but the people, and especially the priests, only heard the message second hand. “Just go and stand in the middle of this raging river, because I intend to show you a marvelous thing!” How many of us would have had the faith to actually do that? What certainty was there that the Jordon’s flood waters would not only stop, but actually begin to pile up? Have you ever seen, or even heard of, that sort of thing happening before? Imagine how high the pile would have gotten during the time it took for a million or so people to cross over! And no flooding! Can you even begin to imagine that!
That is what faith is all about. It isn’t about seeing, or understanding, or knowing – it is about trusting in something that is far greater than ourselves. It’s about taking a risk, regardless of what or where the call may be. It’s about knowing for certain (and this may be the only certainty!) that God is going with us, wherever “there” may be.
The instructions that God gives are seldom complete – we never seem to know what we will be doing once we get “there”, or even how we will get “there”, and sometimes we aren’t even sure of where “there” is! All we have been told is “Go”. And so, in faith, we go.
10 years ago, Gibson Corners was told to go to Ecuador. They thought that they knew what they would be doing, but as it turned out, the faithful who struck out in the name of the Lord didn’t have a clue as to what would come of their “going”! And the result has been far greater than anything that they could have imagined! Sometimes we are told to go to those bothersome next door neighbors. Sometimes we are to go into the worst part of town. Sometimes we are told to go to a specific person’s home, and that we have to go now! Sometimes we are told that someone is coming to us, and that we are to be ready to welcome them. Sometimes we are called to go and step into the raging flood waters, and watch what the Lord does then!
And the priests of Israel were called to go and do that very thing. But when we read this passage again, we discover that Joshua tells the people that the Ark of the Covenant will go ahead of them. This small group of men – the priests who had been chosen to carry the Ark – the very thing which represented the presence of God in their lives – would be leading them. God himself would be leading the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. Of course it also required that a few of the faithful join him in those first few risky steps, but the Lord was with them, and they trusted in that promise.
Read Joshua 3:14-17
There are three lessons that we need to take from this passage.
First, the priests took a risk. Common sense would tell you that by the second step, or the third at the most, those men would have been swept away by the current, and they would never be heard from again. But a walk with Almighty God has nothing to do with “common sense”! It is about faith.
Second, the priests exhibited all of the characteristics of true leaders. They didn’t decide that this was a ridiculous plan, and that they would have to find a better place to across the Jordan. They didn’t stand back and tell the people to go first so that their responsibility would be protected. These priests took the first step as an example of what faith could do. And it was only then that the people followed.
Third, the priests showed the people what trusting in God could accomplish. They stood firm in faith, and did exactly what Joshua told them the Lord wanted of them. They trusted that God would be faithful to them, and in return, they were faithful in responding to God’s need of their lives. “Step into the water, and I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you.”
What if they had balked at this “uncommon” sense of faith? What if they listened to their wildly beating hearts and clammy skin, and decided that the risk was just too great? What if they had said “Let’s wait for the water level to go down – that’s a lot safer!”
If they had hesitated, who would have enabled the nation of Israel to claim its God-given promise of this new and wonderful home? Who would have led them into that place of glory? The answer is – No One! Israel would still be standing on the eastern bank of the Jordan, waiting for the flood waters to recede so they could easily wade across.
But God wanted to show them what a little faith in him could do. Note that not only did the waters pile up upstream and downstream, but that the river bed was dry! No small pools of water in the depressions, no mud on the river bottom, no small rivulets that they had to step across – by faith, the river bed was dry! How powerful is our God? If this doesn’t answer the question in a mighty way, then nothing will!
By taking that risk, by being true leaders of the nation, by living a faith that grew in trust of God, the priests who had been charged with carrying the Ark of God enabled the people to safely pass through the waters and never even dampen the soles of their sandals.
There’s an old saying, that says:
We're not in this to test the waters, we are in this to make waves.
--Anonymous
And that is exactly what the priests were doing – stirring up the spirits of Israel, making waves in their otherwise flaccid lives, showing them the power and majesty that was of their God. And in faith, that is what we, too, must be about.
How strong is our faith? The truth is that we usually don’t know until we are faced with taking that next step that will place us firmly in the torrential flood, or in the depths of the lion’s den, or face to face with our greatest fear, or reaching out to help our greatest enemy.
We can never pussyfoot around in our faith – we have to take a faithful leap into the unknown and trust that the Lord will be there when we come down, to plant our feet on firm and dry ground.
Where is the Lord leading us as individuals? Where is he leading us as his church? The question for us is not does the Lord have a plan for us, but rather what does he require of us! Remember that Jeremiah 29 tells us that the Lord knows the plan that has been created for us, and that it is an incredible and wonderful design. The problem is that all too often, we try to create our own plan of action, and when it doesn’t work out, we wonder where in the world God was when we were working so hard and yet failing so miserably!
Next week, we hold our annual Charge Conference. It is a time to not only celebrate the victories that we have experienced in the past year, but to commit to our missions and ministries for the coming years. But we need to know what the Lord desires of us before we go very far in our preparations. And that requires concerted prayer – both individually and corporately. We are in a partnership with the Lord, and we can never exclude him, anymore than he will exclude us.
Pray for his guidance and the glory of his great plan for our lives and his church.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
“And Back to Imitation!”
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20
2 weeks ago, we considered the need to imitate Christ’s walk and attitude and love for the gospel of God. Last week, we considered what makes our ministry truly authentic. And today, we continue with our reflection on Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, in which he continues to encourage the church to be faithful and courageous in their witness.
So before we venture back into Paul’s thoughts, let’s take just a moment to consider those things that draw us away from the mission that the Holy Spirit leads us through. We all know what they are – we’ve all had to live with them, we’ve all been tempted by them, and I expect that we all have succumbed to the siren’s call at one time or another. The call to personal success in business, the call to “live it up” through the use of alcohol or drugs or in some other worldly pleasure, the call to exert an authoritarian attitude over the very people who love us the most, the call to take pride in our own accomplishments, the call to abusive behavior toward the rest of creation, and the list can go on and on without end.
And as long as we live our lives to the standard set by the world, we will never be bothered by them. As a matter of fact, they may even support us in ways that the church never does. The world can be our best friend at times, but the problem is that it is all based on a lie.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
In the Course of Study class that I’m currently taking (“Theology for the Practice of Ministry”), we are looking at the things that we truly believe about God and our relationship with him. We touch on salvation and other issues of faith, but the greatest amount of time has been spent on discovering who God is, as John Wesley put it, in the “One and Three”. Discussions, presentations of various theological readings, lecture, paper preparation – it is not an easy way to discover God! There must be a better way!
As the story goes, someone has developed a “Ticket to Heaven”, to eliminate all the fuss and bother. I found this notice:
If you ever lost sleep fretting over your eternal destiny, help is at hand. “Ticket to Heaven” provides just what it says - an “admit one” invite to the afterlife. Believers can find peace of mind and atheists can hedge their bets. There are no implausible doctrines to believe, no tiresome works of charity to perform. Just a very modest - all things considered - $10 to pay. (Paradise also accepts all major credit cards.)
Then all you have to do, presumably, is work out a way of getting your certificate beyond the grave.
-Ship of Fools Online Magazine, September 1999, www.flash.net/~thedoor.
But it is never quite this easy.
Israel wanted to keep their relationship with God on an up and up basis. They were comfortable with the sacrifices and prayers and they were easy to understand. They didn’t want those Gentiles to have any footing whatsoever on what they had, seemingly, cornered the market on. God liked them, and no one else deserved any of their God! It just wasn’t right - that all those people had to do is imitate this Jesus! What about all of the righteous acts that they weren’t doing? It was just too easy!
But Paul is reminding the church that imitating Christ isn’t all that easy! The suffering church wasn’t all that unique, in that all faithful congregations were suffering right along with them. And this is one of those things that never changes. The world is not about to lay down and just let Christians be Christ-like.
Consider the situation for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran. He renounced his Islamic faith in favor of Christianity, and now he is facing the death penalty. He has been given 3 opportunities to recant his faith, and each time he has refused. International pressure continues to be exerted on the government, and the courts may be feeling the weight of International opinion. And what about the fate of his family? That is still an unknown. And it is said that even his Islamic lawyer has been imprisoned, simply for defending Youcef and other Christians like him.
Easy!!??
Consider Christians in China! It is, for all practical purposes, an underground movement. When pastors are discovered, they are imprisoned and tortured. Their congregations are sought out and persecuted in many different ways. When a Christian is able to get out of China and travel overseas to speak about the “dissident church”, their chances of returning home unscathed is slim, at best. And their families? It isn’t good.
Easy!!??
Consider the early church! To imitate previously established churches meant that you would also be imitating their susceptibility for persecution. The people could be arrested and imprisoned with little fanfare. Torture was routine, and the Romans weren’t at all squeamish about eliminating this perceived threat against their theological polygamy. And the Jewish authorities weren’t any better. Imitation of Christ had become synonymous with blasphemy.
Easy!!??
And Paul tells the church that these people are just piling up sin upon sin, and eventually the “pile” is going to tip over and crush them. And “The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” – really? If that’s true, why is the persecution continuing? And it does.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
So the question has to be asked – why does Christianity continue to grow? Why do people continue to turn to the true Lord of life? Why does the faithful church continue to expose itself to ridicule and opposition and persecution and even death? Remember that as Paul was writing this letter of encouragement, he, too, was in prison, expecting to die shortly.
The truth is that people continue to see Jesus Christ as the only way, and when we imitate Christ, there is no way to do it half way or half heartedly. We must do it all the way or not at all. Who did Jesus love? Everyone! We saw that time and time again. He spent time with the people of Israel, and he spent time with the Gentiles. He spent time with the “righteous” men in the temple, and he spent time with the sinners that walked along every road that he walked. He spent time with men, and women, and even welcomed the children to come to him. He was with everyone who would listen, and even those who closed their own hearts and minds to his teaching.
What did Jesus detest? The things that his beloved did. He detested the righteous arrogance of the Pharisees, and he detested the indifference that he was constantly being confronted with. He detested the sinful lives that people tried to justify, and he rejected the laws that demanded so much from those who had so little to give. He detested legalism, and he detested apathy. He detested self centered attitudes, and he hated the death that all were destined to suffer.
Jesus never avoided the hard words, and he never cheapened the easy ones. And this is what we must do, too.
Scripture lays out very clearly the path that our faithfulness must take, but that doesn’t mean that it is easy to understand. It takes study. It takes prayer. It takes commitment! It takes a desire that is all consuming and it requires an effort that never takes a vacation.
But it does not mean that we must be constantly busy in the church. Burn out is no stranger to Christians, and it probably accounts for more failures in faith than persecution does. If we aren’t constantly revitalized, constantly supported, constantly supporting, constantly growing, how will we ever weather the worldly storms that are always blowing up in our face?
Paul was encouraging the church to be the church together. You’ve all heard the expression “Divide and Conquer”! That is what the world tries to do to the church. They try to inject fear into the lives of the faithful. They try to cause divisiveness. They try to introduce false teaching so we are confused as to what we believe. They try to fill us with uncertainty and apprehension and apathy. And it works! If we aren’t the church together, and if we aren’t the church with Christ, then we aren’t the church at all. Imitation is the only way, and that model is only accurate in Jesus Christ.
Imitate the Lord and his goodness in all of it’s aspects, and when we do, the church will grow and thrive. Paul’s last words for us today is this – “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy!”
The faithful church, emulating the one Lord, united in one belief, living it to the fullest in our own individual lives – that is the glory and joy that Paul was talking about. Be that glory and joy for someone today.
2 weeks ago, we considered the need to imitate Christ’s walk and attitude and love for the gospel of God. Last week, we considered what makes our ministry truly authentic. And today, we continue with our reflection on Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, in which he continues to encourage the church to be faithful and courageous in their witness.
So before we venture back into Paul’s thoughts, let’s take just a moment to consider those things that draw us away from the mission that the Holy Spirit leads us through. We all know what they are – we’ve all had to live with them, we’ve all been tempted by them, and I expect that we all have succumbed to the siren’s call at one time or another. The call to personal success in business, the call to “live it up” through the use of alcohol or drugs or in some other worldly pleasure, the call to exert an authoritarian attitude over the very people who love us the most, the call to take pride in our own accomplishments, the call to abusive behavior toward the rest of creation, and the list can go on and on without end.
And as long as we live our lives to the standard set by the world, we will never be bothered by them. As a matter of fact, they may even support us in ways that the church never does. The world can be our best friend at times, but the problem is that it is all based on a lie.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
In the Course of Study class that I’m currently taking (“Theology for the Practice of Ministry”), we are looking at the things that we truly believe about God and our relationship with him. We touch on salvation and other issues of faith, but the greatest amount of time has been spent on discovering who God is, as John Wesley put it, in the “One and Three”. Discussions, presentations of various theological readings, lecture, paper preparation – it is not an easy way to discover God! There must be a better way!
As the story goes, someone has developed a “Ticket to Heaven”, to eliminate all the fuss and bother. I found this notice:
If you ever lost sleep fretting over your eternal destiny, help is at hand. “Ticket to Heaven” provides just what it says - an “admit one” invite to the afterlife. Believers can find peace of mind and atheists can hedge their bets. There are no implausible doctrines to believe, no tiresome works of charity to perform. Just a very modest - all things considered - $10 to pay. (Paradise also accepts all major credit cards.)
Then all you have to do, presumably, is work out a way of getting your certificate beyond the grave.
-Ship of Fools Online Magazine, September 1999, www.flash.net/~thedoor.
But it is never quite this easy.
Israel wanted to keep their relationship with God on an up and up basis. They were comfortable with the sacrifices and prayers and they were easy to understand. They didn’t want those Gentiles to have any footing whatsoever on what they had, seemingly, cornered the market on. God liked them, and no one else deserved any of their God! It just wasn’t right - that all those people had to do is imitate this Jesus! What about all of the righteous acts that they weren’t doing? It was just too easy!
But Paul is reminding the church that imitating Christ isn’t all that easy! The suffering church wasn’t all that unique, in that all faithful congregations were suffering right along with them. And this is one of those things that never changes. The world is not about to lay down and just let Christians be Christ-like.
Consider the situation for Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in Iran. He renounced his Islamic faith in favor of Christianity, and now he is facing the death penalty. He has been given 3 opportunities to recant his faith, and each time he has refused. International pressure continues to be exerted on the government, and the courts may be feeling the weight of International opinion. And what about the fate of his family? That is still an unknown. And it is said that even his Islamic lawyer has been imprisoned, simply for defending Youcef and other Christians like him.
Easy!!??
Consider Christians in China! It is, for all practical purposes, an underground movement. When pastors are discovered, they are imprisoned and tortured. Their congregations are sought out and persecuted in many different ways. When a Christian is able to get out of China and travel overseas to speak about the “dissident church”, their chances of returning home unscathed is slim, at best. And their families? It isn’t good.
Easy!!??
Consider the early church! To imitate previously established churches meant that you would also be imitating their susceptibility for persecution. The people could be arrested and imprisoned with little fanfare. Torture was routine, and the Romans weren’t at all squeamish about eliminating this perceived threat against their theological polygamy. And the Jewish authorities weren’t any better. Imitation of Christ had become synonymous with blasphemy.
Easy!!??
And Paul tells the church that these people are just piling up sin upon sin, and eventually the “pile” is going to tip over and crush them. And “The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” – really? If that’s true, why is the persecution continuing? And it does.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:17-20
So the question has to be asked – why does Christianity continue to grow? Why do people continue to turn to the true Lord of life? Why does the faithful church continue to expose itself to ridicule and opposition and persecution and even death? Remember that as Paul was writing this letter of encouragement, he, too, was in prison, expecting to die shortly.
The truth is that people continue to see Jesus Christ as the only way, and when we imitate Christ, there is no way to do it half way or half heartedly. We must do it all the way or not at all. Who did Jesus love? Everyone! We saw that time and time again. He spent time with the people of Israel, and he spent time with the Gentiles. He spent time with the “righteous” men in the temple, and he spent time with the sinners that walked along every road that he walked. He spent time with men, and women, and even welcomed the children to come to him. He was with everyone who would listen, and even those who closed their own hearts and minds to his teaching.
What did Jesus detest? The things that his beloved did. He detested the righteous arrogance of the Pharisees, and he detested the indifference that he was constantly being confronted with. He detested the sinful lives that people tried to justify, and he rejected the laws that demanded so much from those who had so little to give. He detested legalism, and he detested apathy. He detested self centered attitudes, and he hated the death that all were destined to suffer.
Jesus never avoided the hard words, and he never cheapened the easy ones. And this is what we must do, too.
Scripture lays out very clearly the path that our faithfulness must take, but that doesn’t mean that it is easy to understand. It takes study. It takes prayer. It takes commitment! It takes a desire that is all consuming and it requires an effort that never takes a vacation.
But it does not mean that we must be constantly busy in the church. Burn out is no stranger to Christians, and it probably accounts for more failures in faith than persecution does. If we aren’t constantly revitalized, constantly supported, constantly supporting, constantly growing, how will we ever weather the worldly storms that are always blowing up in our face?
Paul was encouraging the church to be the church together. You’ve all heard the expression “Divide and Conquer”! That is what the world tries to do to the church. They try to inject fear into the lives of the faithful. They try to cause divisiveness. They try to introduce false teaching so we are confused as to what we believe. They try to fill us with uncertainty and apprehension and apathy. And it works! If we aren’t the church together, and if we aren’t the church with Christ, then we aren’t the church at all. Imitation is the only way, and that model is only accurate in Jesus Christ.
Imitate the Lord and his goodness in all of it’s aspects, and when we do, the church will grow and thrive. Paul’s last words for us today is this – “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy!”
The faithful church, emulating the one Lord, united in one belief, living it to the fullest in our own individual lives – that is the glory and joy that Paul was talking about. Be that glory and joy for someone today.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
“Never Flatter, Always Glorify”
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12
When we strike out in ministry or mission, we never know where it is going to lead. It might turn out to be a wonderful effort, succeeding far beyond our hopes and dreams. On the other hand, it could be a total flop!
Why would one effort on behalf of Christ be a victory, and another fail so miserably? Simply this – if the effort is initiated by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it will flourish – not always in the way we would like it to, but it will. But if it never bears any fruit, it’s usually because it is our desire, our plan, and not the Lord’s. We can have the grandest plan to evangelize, or to build, or to serve, or to witness, but if it isn’t the one that God has laid out for us, it will go nowhere!
The disciples and the early apostles knew this. As we read the gospel accounts of the 12’s early walk with Christ, they failed far more often than they succeeded. Paul’s venture into faith as the persecutor of the early church didn’t fare any better. But as each one discovered the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they began to listen closer, and walk closer, and their efforts in faith began to not only blossom, but sprout wings!
Paul’s second missionary journey had been a real trial. There had been some notable joys, and a few that weren’t quite so joyful. Philippi hadn’t been all that pleasurable a stop, but they would reach a few folks. (Acts 16:11-40) As an abbreviated summary, He and Silas had to go outside the city to even find some people who would listen, and they only met a few women who showed any interested in their message. The rest of the city turned against them, they were dragged into court, were flogged and imprisoned, and eventually asked to leave the city for good. When they got to Thessalonica, they reached a few Jews and a number of Greeks, and even though they would eventually be thrown out of that city, too, their efforts were a bit more rewarding. (Acts 17:1-9)
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6a
Ministry in the Holy Spirit’s leading isn’t always easy, but it will always bring results. The men had been directed away from some cities, and lead to others. And in it all, they did as the Lord planned, and never what they desired. In all things, “[they spoke] as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.” They weren’t about to preach or teach in a way that would make people feel good. Their mission was to carry the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentile nations, and they did.
They didn’t “fake” the Holy Spirit, they didn’t twist the call on their lives around to suit themselves, they didn’t turn Jesus into a “warm-fuzzy” to make the Gospel message more appealing to the Jews and Greeks, they didn’t invent or dream up spirit dreams so they could justify whatever they felt comfortable in. They trusted God implicitly, and followed him wherever they were lead. Any glory that came of their mission was for the Lord and no one else; they gave none to others and took none for themselves.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:6b-12
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well”. Think about the images that Paul was sharing with the church – a Mother or Father caring and loving their children, encouraging them, comforting them, urging them to live their lives in a way that was worthy of God. Sound like the way that Jesus lived? You’d better believe it! Not reinventing or softening the message, not avoiding the tough places, but loving the people with every word that was spoken, every body that was healed, every heart that was strengthened, every mind that was changed, every life that was saved. Paul and Silas and Timothy found joy, not in the victories that were gained, but simply in the faithful witness that they were able to offer.
Our life in Christ is not about the victories, not about the glory, and it’s especially not about how much others appreciate us and the things we do and say. It’s all about how much we trust God, and whether we walk with him in joy and faith. Victory and glory and thanksgivings for our ministries and missions are not for us to keep – they are for God’s honor.
As we prepare for our healing service today, I want to encourage you to put your thoughts completely in the Lord, just as Paul and Silas and Timothy did. They trusted him, and looked to him for all of the victories.
Can God heal? Absolutely!
Can he change you? Absolutely!
Can he make all things new in you? Without question?
Does he love you implicitly and want only the best for you? Yes, and Yes again!
Come, knowing that he, too, is your source of encouragement, comfort, love, and hope.
(Note: Follow the message, a number of people at each church came forward for anointing and prayers.)
When we strike out in ministry or mission, we never know where it is going to lead. It might turn out to be a wonderful effort, succeeding far beyond our hopes and dreams. On the other hand, it could be a total flop!
Why would one effort on behalf of Christ be a victory, and another fail so miserably? Simply this – if the effort is initiated by the leading of the Holy Spirit, it will flourish – not always in the way we would like it to, but it will. But if it never bears any fruit, it’s usually because it is our desire, our plan, and not the Lord’s. We can have the grandest plan to evangelize, or to build, or to serve, or to witness, but if it isn’t the one that God has laid out for us, it will go nowhere!
The disciples and the early apostles knew this. As we read the gospel accounts of the 12’s early walk with Christ, they failed far more often than they succeeded. Paul’s venture into faith as the persecutor of the early church didn’t fare any better. But as each one discovered the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they began to listen closer, and walk closer, and their efforts in faith began to not only blossom, but sprout wings!
Paul’s second missionary journey had been a real trial. There had been some notable joys, and a few that weren’t quite so joyful. Philippi hadn’t been all that pleasurable a stop, but they would reach a few folks. (Acts 16:11-40) As an abbreviated summary, He and Silas had to go outside the city to even find some people who would listen, and they only met a few women who showed any interested in their message. The rest of the city turned against them, they were dragged into court, were flogged and imprisoned, and eventually asked to leave the city for good. When they got to Thessalonica, they reached a few Jews and a number of Greeks, and even though they would eventually be thrown out of that city, too, their efforts were a bit more rewarding. (Acts 17:1-9)
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6a
Ministry in the Holy Spirit’s leading isn’t always easy, but it will always bring results. The men had been directed away from some cities, and lead to others. And in it all, they did as the Lord planned, and never what they desired. In all things, “[they spoke] as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.” They weren’t about to preach or teach in a way that would make people feel good. Their mission was to carry the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentile nations, and they did.
They didn’t “fake” the Holy Spirit, they didn’t twist the call on their lives around to suit themselves, they didn’t turn Jesus into a “warm-fuzzy” to make the Gospel message more appealing to the Jews and Greeks, they didn’t invent or dream up spirit dreams so they could justify whatever they felt comfortable in. They trusted God implicitly, and followed him wherever they were lead. Any glory that came of their mission was for the Lord and no one else; they gave none to others and took none for themselves.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:6b-12
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well”. Think about the images that Paul was sharing with the church – a Mother or Father caring and loving their children, encouraging them, comforting them, urging them to live their lives in a way that was worthy of God. Sound like the way that Jesus lived? You’d better believe it! Not reinventing or softening the message, not avoiding the tough places, but loving the people with every word that was spoken, every body that was healed, every heart that was strengthened, every mind that was changed, every life that was saved. Paul and Silas and Timothy found joy, not in the victories that were gained, but simply in the faithful witness that they were able to offer.
Our life in Christ is not about the victories, not about the glory, and it’s especially not about how much others appreciate us and the things we do and say. It’s all about how much we trust God, and whether we walk with him in joy and faith. Victory and glory and thanksgivings for our ministries and missions are not for us to keep – they are for God’s honor.
As we prepare for our healing service today, I want to encourage you to put your thoughts completely in the Lord, just as Paul and Silas and Timothy did. They trusted him, and looked to him for all of the victories.
Can God heal? Absolutely!
Can he change you? Absolutely!
Can he make all things new in you? Without question?
Does he love you implicitly and want only the best for you? Yes, and Yes again!
Come, knowing that he, too, is your source of encouragement, comfort, love, and hope.
(Note: Follow the message, a number of people at each church came forward for anointing and prayers.)
Sunday, October 9, 2011
“Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Faith”
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
The concept of imitation is often considered as being synonymous with stealing. Imitation in literature is called “plagiarism”. Imitation in business is known as “patent infringement”. Imitators in life are “copy cats”. Sometimes we say that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but only the most shallow personalities would tend to believe that. To copy the style, the work, the dress, the mannerisms of another person is never seen as an individualistic form of personal expression. And yet, people do it all the time.
What about faith? Is it permissible to imitate the faith of others? The faith expression of others? The faith walk of others?
1 Thessalonians 1:2-7
The basic tenets of our faith are intended to be taught and followed, and even imitated by those who come after us. But one major caution must be that the one who is being imitated must be accurate in their understanding.
In the very early church, before the invention of the printing press, bibles were painstakingly reproduced by hand. Monks would dedicate their entire life to coping the text, and a concerted and dedicated effort was made to ensure that each and every copy was perfectly accurate. When a monk finished copying a page, presumably exactly, including sentence breaks, line spacing and letter spacing, a “supervisor” would examine both the original and the copy, to verify that it was, indeed, an exact copy. He would choose a random line number, such as the 12th line, then count across a given number of characters, such as to the 20th character, and would then compare the result in both documents. He might do this several times, and if there wasn’t a perfect match, the page was destroyed, and the monk started over again on a fresh page. And it didn’t matter if that page had taken him 6 months to produce – it was no good!
Accuracy in faith is just as important. But what if the accuracy of our imitation is flawed?
Humphrey Bogart was once taken to watch a young comedian who had a reputation for doing a very good Bogart imitation. Bogie sat in the audience and was asked afterwards what he thought of the imitation. His reply was, 'One of us stinks.'
--As quoted in Context, (15 March 1993), 6.
The early church struggled with faith expressions that figuratively “stunk”! As we read through 1 Corinthians and other epistles, we see the struggle that the church was experiencing. Many people were trying to include worldly attitudes and ideals in the faith, and it was causing a great conflict in the congregations. Consider the issue of sexual expression. The Greek and Roman influence in society was very strong, and sexual activity was a varied as the people who lived in a particular community. Anything went! And this attitude found its way into the faith.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1, we read “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.” Leviticus 18:7 & 8 specifically address this, and the law declares that the act is “dishonorable”. And yet, members of the church were actively promoting and engaging in worldly wiles. They were imitating false precepts of faith, and the church was being torn apart from the inside out.
And the erosion that begins within is the most dangerous kind. It’s insidious. It’s infectious. And many times, it’s subtle. And if it is advanced by a respected member of the community, it will almost always be accepted as a valid expression. Sound familiar? The greatest danger in the church today comes from the very people who are charged with preservation and expansion of the faith – the clergy and laity in leadership positions. For the most part, they can offer nearly any thought in the local church, and it will, at least in part, be accepted as “gospel”. They are seen as a spiritual authority, and few will question their teachings.
But it’s about time that we started counting “lines and characters”, and comparing the teachings in the church to the original text. I don’t mean to imply that we have to do things exactly like the early church did, or even teach as the early church apostles did. Every person’s faith walk is unique, and people today will respond to music and styles in different ways than they did in the 1st, or 5th, or 15th centuries. It’s perfectly acceptable to use new methods, new forms, new expressions in faith, new music, but we can never deviate from the original intent and teachings of Jesus, or for that matter, of the prophets and the apostles. And I want each of you to know that I must also be accountable to those same teachings, and if you believe that I have wandered too far afield in my messages, I want you to challenge me. If I can’t defend my position with thoughts from the mind and heart of Christ, then I’m in trouble. If I can, then maybe we can both learn something new.
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
The church in Thessalonica was following Paul’s teaching as closely as they possibly could. In Paul’s words, they were imitators of both him and the Lord. And the message of good news was beginning to be spread far and wide. They had been persecuted, their faith had been under attack from the outside and even possibly from the inside, they had been ridiculed, and had experienced any number of other humiliations, and still their faith remained firm.
Paul recounts the accuracy of their teaching. They had turned away from false gods and toward Christ. They knew that Jesus would one day return to claim them. They knew for certain that Jesus had died for their sins, and that he had been raised form the dead and into new life. And they knew that it was Christ and Christ alone who would judge their worthiness for a life in eternity with him.
That is the “line and character” verification of their faith. They lived the Lord’s call that is in Matthew 28 – they were making disciples of all “nations”, they were baptizing them in the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and were teaching the people to know and obey the commandments of Christ, and not those of society.
To imitate Jesus Christ – his life, his teachings, his humility, his obedience, his faithfulness – is the ultimate expression of love for Jesus that any Christian can make. And yet, some still think that the faith needs to be modified and updated to match societal standards of today.
When I was growing up, and most of you are from that same or similar era, we all had our heroes. For some, it was an inspiring teacher; for others it was a person who had overcome some great adversity; for some it was a great sports figure or a highly respected member of the military; and some even saw their parents as their heroes! It was always about the way their “hero” lived their life to the fullest and how they used it to help others.
Today, the heroes seem to have deteriorated a bit. Now it is all about individualism and self expression. It is all about self advancement, and seldom about raising others up. Imitation is no longer the admirable character trait that it once was.
But for those who still have the life goal of imitating Christ, there is still hope. The standards of Jesus are no further away from that of the world today than they were 2,000 years ago, and unfortunately, no closer, either – it’s just that the separation today has become personal. We are living it. We are struggling in it. We are still being tempted to embrace the world, to be accepting of the world, to at least try some “new” way, even though there is nothing new about it. It admittedly has a new packaging, but the attitude has not changed one bit in the last 2 millennium. “Why get stuck in a rut from the past? Strike out in a new direction! Be daring! Be new!”
We need to be careful as to what and who we are imitating. Paul had imitated Jesus to the best of his ability. The church in Thessalonica had imitated Paul and his message to the best of their abilities. And they were carrying that same message to others – the message of Jesus Christ that was in the original thought, and not massaged into a completely new, and politically correct, and unrecognizable form.
We need to be imitators of Christ, and that is the only faith that can be seen as sincere. All of the rest? They just “stink”!
The concept of imitation is often considered as being synonymous with stealing. Imitation in literature is called “plagiarism”. Imitation in business is known as “patent infringement”. Imitators in life are “copy cats”. Sometimes we say that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but only the most shallow personalities would tend to believe that. To copy the style, the work, the dress, the mannerisms of another person is never seen as an individualistic form of personal expression. And yet, people do it all the time.
What about faith? Is it permissible to imitate the faith of others? The faith expression of others? The faith walk of others?
1 Thessalonians 1:2-7
The basic tenets of our faith are intended to be taught and followed, and even imitated by those who come after us. But one major caution must be that the one who is being imitated must be accurate in their understanding.
In the very early church, before the invention of the printing press, bibles were painstakingly reproduced by hand. Monks would dedicate their entire life to coping the text, and a concerted and dedicated effort was made to ensure that each and every copy was perfectly accurate. When a monk finished copying a page, presumably exactly, including sentence breaks, line spacing and letter spacing, a “supervisor” would examine both the original and the copy, to verify that it was, indeed, an exact copy. He would choose a random line number, such as the 12th line, then count across a given number of characters, such as to the 20th character, and would then compare the result in both documents. He might do this several times, and if there wasn’t a perfect match, the page was destroyed, and the monk started over again on a fresh page. And it didn’t matter if that page had taken him 6 months to produce – it was no good!
Accuracy in faith is just as important. But what if the accuracy of our imitation is flawed?
Humphrey Bogart was once taken to watch a young comedian who had a reputation for doing a very good Bogart imitation. Bogie sat in the audience and was asked afterwards what he thought of the imitation. His reply was, 'One of us stinks.'
--As quoted in Context, (15 March 1993), 6.
The early church struggled with faith expressions that figuratively “stunk”! As we read through 1 Corinthians and other epistles, we see the struggle that the church was experiencing. Many people were trying to include worldly attitudes and ideals in the faith, and it was causing a great conflict in the congregations. Consider the issue of sexual expression. The Greek and Roman influence in society was very strong, and sexual activity was a varied as the people who lived in a particular community. Anything went! And this attitude found its way into the faith.
In 1 Corinthians 5:1, we read “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.” Leviticus 18:7 & 8 specifically address this, and the law declares that the act is “dishonorable”. And yet, members of the church were actively promoting and engaging in worldly wiles. They were imitating false precepts of faith, and the church was being torn apart from the inside out.
And the erosion that begins within is the most dangerous kind. It’s insidious. It’s infectious. And many times, it’s subtle. And if it is advanced by a respected member of the community, it will almost always be accepted as a valid expression. Sound familiar? The greatest danger in the church today comes from the very people who are charged with preservation and expansion of the faith – the clergy and laity in leadership positions. For the most part, they can offer nearly any thought in the local church, and it will, at least in part, be accepted as “gospel”. They are seen as a spiritual authority, and few will question their teachings.
But it’s about time that we started counting “lines and characters”, and comparing the teachings in the church to the original text. I don’t mean to imply that we have to do things exactly like the early church did, or even teach as the early church apostles did. Every person’s faith walk is unique, and people today will respond to music and styles in different ways than they did in the 1st, or 5th, or 15th centuries. It’s perfectly acceptable to use new methods, new forms, new expressions in faith, new music, but we can never deviate from the original intent and teachings of Jesus, or for that matter, of the prophets and the apostles. And I want each of you to know that I must also be accountable to those same teachings, and if you believe that I have wandered too far afield in my messages, I want you to challenge me. If I can’t defend my position with thoughts from the mind and heart of Christ, then I’m in trouble. If I can, then maybe we can both learn something new.
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10
The church in Thessalonica was following Paul’s teaching as closely as they possibly could. In Paul’s words, they were imitators of both him and the Lord. And the message of good news was beginning to be spread far and wide. They had been persecuted, their faith had been under attack from the outside and even possibly from the inside, they had been ridiculed, and had experienced any number of other humiliations, and still their faith remained firm.
Paul recounts the accuracy of their teaching. They had turned away from false gods and toward Christ. They knew that Jesus would one day return to claim them. They knew for certain that Jesus had died for their sins, and that he had been raised form the dead and into new life. And they knew that it was Christ and Christ alone who would judge their worthiness for a life in eternity with him.
That is the “line and character” verification of their faith. They lived the Lord’s call that is in Matthew 28 – they were making disciples of all “nations”, they were baptizing them in the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and were teaching the people to know and obey the commandments of Christ, and not those of society.
To imitate Jesus Christ – his life, his teachings, his humility, his obedience, his faithfulness – is the ultimate expression of love for Jesus that any Christian can make. And yet, some still think that the faith needs to be modified and updated to match societal standards of today.
When I was growing up, and most of you are from that same or similar era, we all had our heroes. For some, it was an inspiring teacher; for others it was a person who had overcome some great adversity; for some it was a great sports figure or a highly respected member of the military; and some even saw their parents as their heroes! It was always about the way their “hero” lived their life to the fullest and how they used it to help others.
Today, the heroes seem to have deteriorated a bit. Now it is all about individualism and self expression. It is all about self advancement, and seldom about raising others up. Imitation is no longer the admirable character trait that it once was.
But for those who still have the life goal of imitating Christ, there is still hope. The standards of Jesus are no further away from that of the world today than they were 2,000 years ago, and unfortunately, no closer, either – it’s just that the separation today has become personal. We are living it. We are struggling in it. We are still being tempted to embrace the world, to be accepting of the world, to at least try some “new” way, even though there is nothing new about it. It admittedly has a new packaging, but the attitude has not changed one bit in the last 2 millennium. “Why get stuck in a rut from the past? Strike out in a new direction! Be daring! Be new!”
We need to be careful as to what and who we are imitating. Paul had imitated Jesus to the best of his ability. The church in Thessalonica had imitated Paul and his message to the best of their abilities. And they were carrying that same message to others – the message of Jesus Christ that was in the original thought, and not massaged into a completely new, and politically correct, and unrecognizable form.
We need to be imitators of Christ, and that is the only faith that can be seen as sincere. All of the rest? They just “stink”!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
“All Lost to Gain More!”
Scripture: Philippians 3:4b-16
Dr. James Dobson says he keeps a particular photograph in his files to remind him of what parents [and I might add, all people!] go through today. It is of an elegantly dressed woman who is holding a cup of coffee. Her little finger is cocked ever so daintily, and her face reveals complete self-assurance. Unfortunately, this woman does not yet know that her slip has collapsed around her feet. The caption reads: “Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation.”
- Homiletics On Line
Have you been there? Been so sure of what you have done, that there is no doubt whatsoever that you are right? – or at least until someone else notices some minor detail that you have overlooked, and which makes a world of difference to your prestige? Humbling, isn’t it?
Confidence in faith is no different. If we are confident that we are righteous and completely faithful, we had better understand that we have made an error in our assumptions! But if we have confidence in the one whom we have faith in, we will then discover that we are at least on the right track.
Read Philippians 3:4b-7
Paul had every reason to boast in his worldly position – prestige in his heritage, high regard and respect as a Pharisee, zealous in the living out of his faith, and legalistic to perfection in his morality. He had everything going for him, and every reason to believe that he was living a holy and worthwhile life. But that was before he understood the situation!
And then he decides to go to Damascus to root out some more of those Christian agitators. He sets out on the journey, with some colleagues in attendance, never realizing that his life would soon be changed forever. (See Acts 9:1-19a) Saul the perfect Jew would become Paul the humble Christian, and he would set all of his worldly esteem behind him and never pick it up again. Paul would discover that his interpretation of holiness couldn’t even begin to come close to that of God, and he came to understand that for years, he hadn’t been attacking the perversion of faith, but rather the Holy Faith itself.
First, Paul hears the voice of the Almighty, not in a condemning way, but as a simple question – “Why do you persecute me?”, and he is told that God, indeed, has a plan, but that it is totally different from the one he had been following. The next voice he would hear is that of a humble man – a mere man, a man who would have been on the tormenter’s list of the faithless, a man who he fully intended to arrest and very possibly to torture. And he didn’t condemn Paul, either. Instead, Ananias offers a prayer for healing, and Paul’s sight is restored, and he is baptized into the faith.
A life time of rigidly following all of the rules, and it only took 3 days to discover that they are all completely meaningless in the light of eternity!
Read Philippians 3:8-11
All of the honors and glory of his previous life are now seen as worthless. We read the word “rubbish” in our text – it is nothing more than trash, it has no value whatsoever, it is good only for the garbage heap! The attributes that he once saw as infinitely valuable are now to be discarded as readily and deliberately as a broken lamp might be.
How did this drastic change come over this otherwise unyielding life? Was it because he had been confronted by Jesus Christ Himself? Could it have been his encounter with a true Christian man who seemed to have no fear of him? These certainly had an impact, but I think that there is more, that there is a symbolism in the Acts account that we sometimes overlook. The Acts passage tells us that “something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again.” (v. 18), and this may be symbolic of a spiritual healing that came into his life, and not just a physical one. Ananias had told Paul that he had been sent to him “so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Paul didn’t ask the Spirit to come over him, and he probably didn’t even understand what Ananias was telling him, but he certainly did know it when it happened!
Paul would come to know the glory of Christ in his life, and it would never leave him. He would realize that the prized life that he had been living was worthless without Jesus, and that with Jesus, he had gained far more than the glory of earth could ever give him. Did you notice that Paul repeats this theme of “gain” three times in a row? (vs. 7 & 8) He doesn’t want us to miss this point - that by letting go of the short-lived things that earth would have us cherish, we can then receive the things of heaven that have an eternal and infinite worth.
And we also need to consider his words regarding the power of Christ’s resurrection. For the vast majority of people, death is something to be feared and avoided as long as possible. Have you noticed that there is a growing trend toward plastic surgery, with all of those procedures that are intended to make us appear more youthful, for Botox and all of those other medical innovations that are intended to make us look “years younger”? After all, from a psychological point of view, if we look younger, then we feel younger and we think that we have a longer time before we become old! And “getting older” is seen as being synonymous with “death”! And no one wants to die!
But Paul is able to see beyond the limitations of this earthly life, and he claims the power of eternal life in Jesus Christ. He sees the “gain of Christ” as being able to participate, not only in Christ’s suffering on earth, not only in the sharing of physical death, but more so in the resurrection power of the Easter Christ. When the scales fell from Paul’s eyes, he suddenly could see beyond the earthliness that had been his lot for years. He had thought that he could earn eternity though his rigid faithfulness in “doing” right things, but he came to know that it is only through Christ that we can gain true life.
Read Philippians 3:12-16
He readily admits, and rightly so, that he has yet to grasp that prize that he has seen, but is still pressing on toward the goal. And the closing words for today’s reading must be the Christian’s charge for these times – “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (v. 16) None of us are perfect in this life, but whether we are vastly imperfect, or approaching the edge of a righteous existence, we can’t sit back and claim “Oh well – Jesus will take us regardless.” Paul tells that we can’t sit back in complacency and expect that God’s merciful nature will welcome us. While we are here, we need to live as Christian a life as we possibly can. It’s true that we have received salvation through the gift of new birth in Christ, but now we have an obligation to live as thought we appreciate that gift! Is Sunday the only day we give to God, while the other 6 days go to the world? Are we content in our own salvation, and willing to let others find their own way to the Lord? Have we truly denounced the things of earth as “rubbish”, as trash, as worthless, or do we still like to keep a tight grasp on all that we have gained? Do we have enough respect for all that the Lord has won for us to give our all to him? Our time, our resources, our finances, our life?
“Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” (v. 7) Do you truly believe that all that this life has brought to you is “loss”? Not just worthless, but as a negative? It is, you know.
Let go of the worthless, and claim the fullness, the glory, the power of Jesus Christ today.
Dr. James Dobson says he keeps a particular photograph in his files to remind him of what parents [and I might add, all people!] go through today. It is of an elegantly dressed woman who is holding a cup of coffee. Her little finger is cocked ever so daintily, and her face reveals complete self-assurance. Unfortunately, this woman does not yet know that her slip has collapsed around her feet. The caption reads: “Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation.”
- Homiletics On Line
Have you been there? Been so sure of what you have done, that there is no doubt whatsoever that you are right? – or at least until someone else notices some minor detail that you have overlooked, and which makes a world of difference to your prestige? Humbling, isn’t it?
Confidence in faith is no different. If we are confident that we are righteous and completely faithful, we had better understand that we have made an error in our assumptions! But if we have confidence in the one whom we have faith in, we will then discover that we are at least on the right track.
Read Philippians 3:4b-7
Paul had every reason to boast in his worldly position – prestige in his heritage, high regard and respect as a Pharisee, zealous in the living out of his faith, and legalistic to perfection in his morality. He had everything going for him, and every reason to believe that he was living a holy and worthwhile life. But that was before he understood the situation!
And then he decides to go to Damascus to root out some more of those Christian agitators. He sets out on the journey, with some colleagues in attendance, never realizing that his life would soon be changed forever. (See Acts 9:1-19a) Saul the perfect Jew would become Paul the humble Christian, and he would set all of his worldly esteem behind him and never pick it up again. Paul would discover that his interpretation of holiness couldn’t even begin to come close to that of God, and he came to understand that for years, he hadn’t been attacking the perversion of faith, but rather the Holy Faith itself.
First, Paul hears the voice of the Almighty, not in a condemning way, but as a simple question – “Why do you persecute me?”, and he is told that God, indeed, has a plan, but that it is totally different from the one he had been following. The next voice he would hear is that of a humble man – a mere man, a man who would have been on the tormenter’s list of the faithless, a man who he fully intended to arrest and very possibly to torture. And he didn’t condemn Paul, either. Instead, Ananias offers a prayer for healing, and Paul’s sight is restored, and he is baptized into the faith.
A life time of rigidly following all of the rules, and it only took 3 days to discover that they are all completely meaningless in the light of eternity!
Read Philippians 3:8-11
All of the honors and glory of his previous life are now seen as worthless. We read the word “rubbish” in our text – it is nothing more than trash, it has no value whatsoever, it is good only for the garbage heap! The attributes that he once saw as infinitely valuable are now to be discarded as readily and deliberately as a broken lamp might be.
How did this drastic change come over this otherwise unyielding life? Was it because he had been confronted by Jesus Christ Himself? Could it have been his encounter with a true Christian man who seemed to have no fear of him? These certainly had an impact, but I think that there is more, that there is a symbolism in the Acts account that we sometimes overlook. The Acts passage tells us that “something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again.” (v. 18), and this may be symbolic of a spiritual healing that came into his life, and not just a physical one. Ananias had told Paul that he had been sent to him “so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Paul didn’t ask the Spirit to come over him, and he probably didn’t even understand what Ananias was telling him, but he certainly did know it when it happened!
Paul would come to know the glory of Christ in his life, and it would never leave him. He would realize that the prized life that he had been living was worthless without Jesus, and that with Jesus, he had gained far more than the glory of earth could ever give him. Did you notice that Paul repeats this theme of “gain” three times in a row? (vs. 7 & 8) He doesn’t want us to miss this point - that by letting go of the short-lived things that earth would have us cherish, we can then receive the things of heaven that have an eternal and infinite worth.
And we also need to consider his words regarding the power of Christ’s resurrection. For the vast majority of people, death is something to be feared and avoided as long as possible. Have you noticed that there is a growing trend toward plastic surgery, with all of those procedures that are intended to make us appear more youthful, for Botox and all of those other medical innovations that are intended to make us look “years younger”? After all, from a psychological point of view, if we look younger, then we feel younger and we think that we have a longer time before we become old! And “getting older” is seen as being synonymous with “death”! And no one wants to die!
But Paul is able to see beyond the limitations of this earthly life, and he claims the power of eternal life in Jesus Christ. He sees the “gain of Christ” as being able to participate, not only in Christ’s suffering on earth, not only in the sharing of physical death, but more so in the resurrection power of the Easter Christ. When the scales fell from Paul’s eyes, he suddenly could see beyond the earthliness that had been his lot for years. He had thought that he could earn eternity though his rigid faithfulness in “doing” right things, but he came to know that it is only through Christ that we can gain true life.
Read Philippians 3:12-16
He readily admits, and rightly so, that he has yet to grasp that prize that he has seen, but is still pressing on toward the goal. And the closing words for today’s reading must be the Christian’s charge for these times – “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (v. 16) None of us are perfect in this life, but whether we are vastly imperfect, or approaching the edge of a righteous existence, we can’t sit back and claim “Oh well – Jesus will take us regardless.” Paul tells that we can’t sit back in complacency and expect that God’s merciful nature will welcome us. While we are here, we need to live as Christian a life as we possibly can. It’s true that we have received salvation through the gift of new birth in Christ, but now we have an obligation to live as thought we appreciate that gift! Is Sunday the only day we give to God, while the other 6 days go to the world? Are we content in our own salvation, and willing to let others find their own way to the Lord? Have we truly denounced the things of earth as “rubbish”, as trash, as worthless, or do we still like to keep a tight grasp on all that we have gained? Do we have enough respect for all that the Lord has won for us to give our all to him? Our time, our resources, our finances, our life?
“Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” (v. 7) Do you truly believe that all that this life has brought to you is “loss”? Not just worthless, but as a negative? It is, you know.
Let go of the worthless, and claim the fullness, the glory, the power of Jesus Christ today.
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