Sunday, July 30, 2017
“The Worth of the Word”
Scripture: Hebrews 4:1-13
In Genesis 2:1-3, we read that God finished creating all that there is in 6 “days”, and then entered into a time of “rest”, but this wouldn’t be the type of rest that we may be used to. It would be “blessed”, and would be made “holy”, because it celebrated the divine work that had been completed in creating.
But what does “divine rest” entail? Does it mean that nothing will ever change again? Does it mean that God will never intervene in his Creation? That he will become unreachable? And what does God’s rest, and call for our rest, mean for each of us?
In Exodus 20:8-11, we discover that we are to remember God’s rest, or Sabbath, and are to keep it holy. Our seventh day, in general, is to be viewed and lived in a different way than the other 6 are. We are not to do any work or require others to work on our behalf, and yet in the gospels, Jesus seems to redefine what this means. It doesn’t mean that we can’t prepare a meal to eat or to help others in their time of need (Matthew 12:1-14) – it means that we focus our lives on Jesus Christ, and follow his ways exclusively as a way to honor the Lord’s Sabbath, and to celebrate the good works that he has allowed us to be a part of.
But is that the final word on Sabbath and the “rest” that we are to receive from it? Hardly – there is so much more.
Read Hebrews 4:1-5
For Israel, “rest” was to occur in a place – the Promised Land – even as worship must always occur in a single place – the temple. But Jesus turned it all around. Worship, as he told the Samaritan woman, (John 4:19-24), would now be in our heart’s attitude, and not in a singular location. Rest, too, would no longer be in a place – it would be in a relationship with Almighty God. “Entering his rest” could never be through a door – it could only be through faith in Jesus Christ. That is what true “Sabbath rest” is all about, and it has little to do with the activities we engage in on any particular day. Sabbath rest is always a break from our weekly routine, and one that brings honor to our Lord.
The writer of Hebrews is also telling us that we must never miss the opportunity to enter the Lord’s rest. It has stood forever, and even though we may have heard the message of invitation, most have never understood it because they had no faith. Without faith in Christ, we will always “fall short” of understanding and accepting the rest that God offers to each of us. Remember our text from several weeks ago, when we considered just who and how the Holy Spirit is for our lives? The Spirit encourages us, leads us, and reminds us of all that Jesus taught and did in his ministry. Without faith in Jesus, there is no Spirit in our lives, and without the Spirit, there can never be any true understanding.
And our failure to believe will bring the same results that Israel experienced during their 40 years in the wilderness – Psalm 95:7-11 tells us that Israel hardened their hearts toward all that God had done for them, and as a result, they lost out on all that the Lord had prepared for them. God continues to work within our lives, but all that has been created and prepared for us is all that ever will be created and prepared.
Read Hebrews 4:6-7
The author continues with the Israelite analogy, which is completely appropriate for this letter to the Hebrews. He reminds them, and us, that it was disobedience that kept the people out of their “Land of rest”, and nothing more. When the teams of spies were sent in to do some scouting, they all saw both the benefits and the obstacles, but the problems seemed to be insurmountable to most of them. It was only Joshua and Caleb who believed that the mighty people who already occupied the land could never stand against the might of their God. (Numbers 13:30-14:12) But the people believed the cynics, and entry was never even attempted.
The message was there. “Have faith and do what I tell you to do, and you will have all that I have promised.” But faith resided in only 2 – even Moses and Aaron fell short, and the promise of “God’s rest” would have to wait for the next generation.
Remember the phrase “There’s no rest for the wicked”? It’s based on a passage from Isaiah 57:18-21, in which the Lord promises peace and healing to all, but the prophet also tells us that the unfaithful – the wicked – can never rest and are only churning up the dirt of earth. The Lord continues to call and instruct and challenge us, and invites us to bask in his “rest”. But that isn’t the most important part – the important part is in our listening for his voice, and then, by faith in Jesus Christ, to do something about the call that God offers.
Read Hebrews 4:8-13
Sabbath is now a rest that is given to all who are in Christ, and when we are in God’s rest, we rest from our work and reflect on what has been accomplished, just as God rested and celebrated upon completion of Creation. It appears, then, that “rest” was not part of God’s nature prior to his work – it came from his work. And quite honestly, rest isn’t exactly an integral part of our nature, either. While in the garden, Adam had very little to do, other than to walk and talk with God - that is, until the fall occurred. Then the man would never again know the peace that he knew in Eden, and would have to work and toil to produce all of his necessities. He could have had it all given to him, but because of the sin, he would lose a majority of the Lord’s benevolence.
But our Lord is a gracious Lord, and even though he has yet to restore our eternal rest and peace, we are given one day of rest at the end of every 6 days of toil. And even though the intimate and constant relationship with God has yet to be restored, our day of rest is intended to be one in which relationship can be refreshed once more through worship and praise of our Lord.
But Sabbath rest was never intended to be of a non-active nature – it is to be a day when honor and praise is offered to our Almighty God. And in our Sabbath rest, we are to be active – not in the ways of earth, but in the ways of God. The Lord has rested from creating, but he will never rest from working in our lives. Therefore, if we rest in the Lord, we, too, must rest in his way.
God’s word is active, even in this time of resting. He works for our good; he works for our healing; he works for our understanding and he works for our salvation; he works in leading us and showing us what it means to be our God and he works in showing us what it means to be his people (Jeremiah 30:22); he answers prayer; he continues to know our every need and works to bring them to fruition; he will never leave us, nor will he ever turn his back on us (Hebrews 13:5-6). If that is the way of God’s rest, then that must be our way, too.
The Lord will constantly bring opportunities into our life to live a life that honors him. We are to care for each other’s human needs; we are to share his “living” word with each other; we are to lead others into a life of spiritual righteousness; we are to be an example of Christian faithfulness; we are to rest in celebration (not pride!) of the work that God has accomplished through us; and above all, we are to listen for the Voice that calls us to serve him in new and glorious ways.
Sabbath rest – that which brings glory to our Lord and sets the ways and cares of earth aside - was never intended to be limited to one day each week. Of course, we will always have the responsibility to work and care for our human needs, but even while we do that, can’t we find new ways to honor the Lord? Serving within that “living and active” word of God can happen seven days a week, and doesn’t have to be confined to only one of them.
How much do we give back to the Lord? Does it truly reflect the value of all that he has done for us? Does it tell the Lord that we truly appreciate him and his divine ways?
How much is enough?
Sunday, July 16, 2017
“The Call on the Church”
Scripture: Titus 3:1-11
The Christian life is anything but easy - we are to center on that “In the world, but not of the world” thing. The world distracts and confuses us all the time, and almost without knowing it, we can revert to being imitators of the ways of earth, instead of imitators of Christ (Ephesians 4:31-5:2). But the two things we have going for us are these: 1) we have the Spirit of God to remind us, and to get us back on track, and 2) we have the forgiveness and righteousness that faith in Jesus Christ can bring to our lives. But that doesn’t mean we can stop trying to live the better life.
Our text today is a reminder of what a Christ-like life is all about. We can read about it, we can study it, we can remind each other about it, we can even think about it, but Paul’s advice to the Church is worthless unless we actually do something about it. Today’s text is being offered, not as a condemnation of anyone’s life or actions, but simply as a challenge to live the life that all of us is called to!
In Matthew 5:14-16, the Lord calls his Church to be “the light of the world”, just as he also is that light (John 8:12). This plea involves two things – first, we are to be a Christian example to the people of earth, and second, we are to expose their ways for the failure that they are. And the order that I placed these expectations in is intentional. Unless we live a Godly life to begin with, our revealing of the sin of earth will be laughed at – we will be seen as “the pot calling the kettle black”, so to speak. Our Christian witness must be both in the life we live, as well as in the words we speak.
Read Titus 3:1-3
Paul starts right out with obey the laws that you live under (Romans 13:1-7), as well as the Laws of God. This is reminiscent of Christ’s words when he told the Pharisees to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12:13-17). Of course, when there is a conflict between the things of God and the things of humanity, God’s way must always prevail.
But the apostle doesn’t end with this - he continues with even more. He says that we are to always be ready to do good. The implication is that the opportunities come suddenly, and it is so easy to miss them. But we must also be aware that God’s version of goodness is quite different from the world’s! In Matthew 6:1-4, we read that our good works must be kept strictly between the one receiving and the one who is giving. This is to keep us humble, and to keep from receiving the admiration and honor of others. We should also never expect to be repaid, for anything and in any way, for our gifts of goodness toward others (Luke 14:12-14).
Don’t slander – don’t lie about others, either intentionally or accidentally! Don’t gossip, don’t reveal confidences, and don’t talk about others, regardless of who they may be or what they may have done. And practice – all the time (!) – to keep confidences. Breaking a confidence that someone has asked us to keep is the quickest and surest way to tarnish your Christian witness and destroy a friendship!
Be peaceful, considerate, and humble toward everyone! Never put yourself above others, regardless of who they may be.
To do otherwise in any of these things, is to live in the way of earth. It is the way we used to be – dedicated to personal glory and honor. Seeking foolish pleasures, being disobedient to all authority, acting deceitfully toward others, as well as being deceived by them, enslaving others in sinfulness and becoming slaves to those same sinful ways.
Hateful, spiteful, envious of what others have – engrossed in worldly passions and possessions, going against everything that God is and calls us to be. We were in and of the world then, but can be that no longer.
Read Titus 3:4-8
And Paul lifts up the reasons that we have to, and must, change - that by faith in Jesus Christ, we have been saved from the consequences of the worldly life that we once lived, and we must now live for salvation. It wasn’t because we deserved it, it wasn’t because we earned it, it wasn’t because we are self-justified, it isn’t because we inherited salvation from our parents or other ancestors – it is because Jesus won our forgiveness at Calvary, and by faith in him and all that he has taught and done, we receive his gift of eternal life by divine grace, and by no other way in all creation.
Paul reminds us, and wants us to remind each other, of the power of God’s grace, so that we will continue to live the Godly life. That is what accountability is all about – to watch together for those good opportunities; to remain humble and considerate of others; to love the ways of God and to reject the ways of earth.
We need each other, nearly as much as we need Jesus, if we are to break the hold that sin has on our lives. We pray for each other, we encourage each other, we challenge each other, we hold each other accountable, and above all, we love each other. And we keep our conversations and confessions with each other private.
The Christian life can never be a solitary existence. It must be lived within community. The Church is an all-encompassing entity, and not only must we live within it, but the Church also lives within each of us.
Read Titus 3:9-11
Almost as an afterthought, Paul throws out a few more caveats for us to consider, and these are part of the negative interactions that we sometimes see happening within the Church! These attributes are most often seen within diverse thought and errant teaching. He defines them as “foolish” – usually because the extremely minor differences that we argue over (whether we see them as minor or not!) aren’t worth our time or effort! In Paul’s day, one of the predominate issues of discussion involved inclusion of Gentiles in the faith, and how closely they would have to comply with the law of Moses. Did they have to be circumcised? Did they have to submit to Jewish dietary laws? Did they have to convert to Judaism, and submit to Jewish authority?
Foolish, indeed! Shouldn’t faith in Jesus Christ and submission to his authority be enough?
But before we laugh at folks in the first century church, we need to remember that we have the same types of “silly” disagreements today. One of the ones I heard not too long ago was over the gift of tongues. One person said that the gift is still being given and proclaimed today, while the other side believed that it was only given to the first century Church and was no longer an active gift. The first believed that the gift of tongues was the only valid evidence of salvation, while the other believed that a public confession and surrender was the only proper witness.
Personally, I think an obvious and changed life is the best evidence – one that reflects Christ and all that he stands for, and I think that Paul is leaning that way in his letter to Titus. The change that is to occur is not only within our own personality and heart, but also in the ways we interact with others. And that interaction must be nearly as identical with those within the Church, as it is with those who have yet to come to Christ.
Be that changed person, and as others come to see the difference that Christ has made in your life (and there is no question that they will see it!), they, too may exchange their earthly robes for the far more glorious ones that Almighty God is holding out to them. And that is a change worth rejoicing over!
Sunday, July 9, 2017
“Becoming a Worker of the Harvest”
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9
We know that Jesus taught in a straightforward manner sometimes, and at other times, he spoke in parables. Have you ever wondered why? It wasn’t necessarily due to the audience – his disciples received instruction both ways, while the Pharisees tended to get it straight from the hip. Perhaps it was more about the topic than it was the listeners, but regardless, even we tend to remember the parables more easily than the direct teaching.
Parables were a way to put the ideals of heaven into a context that every day folks could easily understand and relate to. He spoke about crops, and sheep, and weddings, and fishing, and servanthood, and treasure, and family. But even though the stories were offered in a secular setting, every parable had a far greater lesson imbedded within it - lessons that must to be learned by every person who would follow him. And in our parable for today, Jesus actually explains its significance in later verses.
When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke so cryptically, he replied, or at least implied, that while he was more direct with them, he wanted others to think about the underlying theme of his stories, and to seek out the divine truth that each contained. Their willingness to do this would be the sign of a committed and dedicated student, and in their honest seeking, they would become true followers of his Way.
Today’s parable is no different. In it, Jesus would tell a story about soil and seed, but the lesson would be about receiving and sharing and teaching and living the gospel message.
Read Matthew 13:1-4
So who is this farmer? Who is the one who is sowing in such a widespread, and almost reckless, manner? At that time, it would be Jesus Himself, but looking toward the future, the “sower” would soon become the disciples and early apostles, and today, it is you and me. The main point is that there is no “harvest” unless there are “sowers”, and there is no spreading of the word unless someone lives and shares the Good News of Jesus Christ! (Romans 10:14-15) Essentially, this parable is about the Church and its responsibility as members of Christ’s family, and how we have a part in spreading the word of God throughout the world!
But not everyone who hears the message will be saved, and Jesus outlines 3 conditions where the Good News will not grow in a person’s life. These verses consider the first condition – the seed which falls on the world’s “beaten path”, and, being exposed to all kinds of worldly attacks, it can easily be stolen before it ever has a chance to germinate.
In verse 19, Jesus teaches that if the message cannot be understood – and that includes the sower’s obscuring of the truth of Christ – Satan will quickly intervene and destroy any chance that it will ever grow in the heart and life of the individual.
Remember that the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 begins with making disciples, and only later calls us to teach about obeying Jesus’ commandments. The first step, therefore, is to convince others that Jesus is worth discovering. Discipleship is about seeking. And rightly so. If we begin with teaching about condemnation and atonement and consuming the flesh and blood of Christ before a person ever decides that Jesus is worth learning more about, how far do you think you will ever get before the person’s eyes glaze over and they turn their back on both you and faith?
Satan would have a field day with that approach!
Read Matthew 13:5-6
The second condition – that of rocky and poor soil – is also a situation where the burdens of earth can easily bring a negative influence to its development. Plants need roots for several reasons. First, they bring nutrients from the soil into the plant, nourishing it and feeding its growth. Second, they provide stability when the forces of earth, such as wind and heavy rains, come against it. Third, as fast as the plant grows, so does the root system, and if it doesn’t, the plant will be doomed. And rocks get in the way of growth.
In verses 20-21, Jesus explains that humanity needs “roots” in their lives, too. While rocks inhibit the feeding and stability of a plant, there are also a number of situations that can prevent our growth in faith – things such as an overly busy and consuming lifestyle, a demanding job, the lack of Christian friends, our failure, for whatever reason, to study the word of God intentionally and truthfully, and our lack of honest and faithful worship.
Without growth in the basis and purpose for our faith, our spiritual growth and faith development will be nearly nonexistent. And without a foundation in our faith, we will be vulnerable to the attacks that will always come from life. Things like loss of employment, financial difficulties, conflicts in our marriage and other relationships, betrayal by our friends, the world’s hatred for Christians, and on and on.
Faith is vital in our lives, but our roots of faith provide us with nurturing and stability. We can't overlook the strengthening of life’s spiritual roots as we live our life in Christ.
Read Matthew 13:7
The third condition – thorns – create a conflict and completion against the plants that can either diminish the desired crop, or in some cases, can actually choke it out and kill it. Sometimes, thorns will grow where the field has not been properly prepared to receive the good seed; other times, thorns are introduced to a field by the wind or other outside forces. Either way, the crop is going to suffer.
In verse 22, Jesus tells us that our spiritual thorns – those things that can obstruct or diminish our faith – are things that we have some control over. The Lord offers two examples of spiritual thorns – the worries that come into our life, and our buying into the world’s lie that wealth and power is a desirable thing.
First, Jesus taught us about worry in Matthew 6:25-34. He says that worry is all about the future, and that worrying about something that has yet to come is a waste of our time. We are reminded that our heavenly Father already knows what we need for life, and that he will see to our every need. He compares our needs to the feeding of the birds and the “clothing” of the wild flowers. Neither one of them does anything to prepare their food or to care for their appearance, and yet they exist quite well. So why worry about something that you have no influence over – just go on with life (the birds and flowers do!), and trust God!
The second issue is “the deceitfulness of wealth”. In Luke 12:16-21, the Lord tells another parable - that of the “The Rich Fool”. This lesson is about greed, about the accumulation of more and more resources – far more than we could ever use. Instead of using his crops and other resources to help others, he kept them securely locked up in larger and larger barns, presumably to be for his own use in years to come. But in the parable, he would never get to use them, as he was about to lose his life.
Worries about those things that don’t deserve our attention, and our striving for greater and greater wealth and position, will never do anything to further or benefit our lives – it will choke all of the goodness out of our soul, and our faith will become flat and useless.
Life, as we all know, can become thorny, but we can also refuse to let them take control.
Read Matthew 13:8-9
Good soil is comparable to a receptive heart. It is a heart that is open to the word and ways of Jesus; it is a heart that intentionally allows the depth and glory of God to grow fully and securely within; it is a heart that refuses to let the world’s lies infiltrate and take control of a weakened or battered faith; it is a heart that desires the truth of God; it is a heart that seeks and strives to know the love and glory of Jesus Christ, and none other.
And when our heart becomes the very place where the seed of salvation can grow, it is then that we can become the next “sower” of the seeds of faith. And some of the sowing that we do will also be kept from growing by the world, and some will fall among the rocks, and some will get choked out by the world’s thorns. But that isn’t to be our concern. We are called to sow as intentionally and generously as we possibly can. And when we freely share the word that lives and reigns in Jesus Christ - much of it will also fall on hearts that yearn for the newness and goodness that only our Lord can bring.
Spread the seeds of faith as widely, as hopefully, as faithfully as you can. And watch for the incredible harvest that comes from it.
Sunday, July 2, 2017
“The Secret Ways Revealed”
Scripture: Matthew 10:24-39
Jesus has been teaching his disciples about the relationship that they are to have with him. And as appropriate and necessary as it was for the 12, it is even more important for the Church of today to understand. The point that Jesus always makes is that we are to learn from him, with the result being that our lives are to submit to the ways that the Lord has lived. Every parable that he ever offered placed Almighty God, and that included Jesus, in the superior position, and whether the teaching was about our submission to the Lord’s ways, or the Lord’s blessings that come to us, or the persecution that would come to the Church, Jesus was always in the first position, and humanity was always in the second.
Some people today don’t understand this - they don’t like being second, and they definitely don’t like being told to submit to any authority except their own! But Jesus never offered that option – not to the 12, not to the crowds of his day, and not to the Church during the last 2,000 years! We are sheep, we are broken, we are lost, we are ignorant of heavenly ways, and no matter how you look at it, we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit to show us the way to live in this time and in this place.
We are living in a dark and imposing world, and today’s text teaches us through the light of Christ – a light that reveals and educates us to the life and ways that define a follower of Jesus Christ.
Read Matthew 10:24-25
The Christian’s life must always run parallel to the teaching of the Lord Jesus. When we surrender our life to Jesus Christ, we give up control and influence on our life, and we accept whatever may come from our obedience to the Lord. Jesus was persecuted, and in faith, so will we. Jesus was falsely accused of subterfuge and failure to follow the law, and our lot, when we submit to him, won’t be any better. Sometimes he avoided the situation, and other times he stood his ground – and while we may not know which we are to do, the Spirit will always show us the right way.
The choice that we make can either be for the short term, or for eternity – there is no other option, and there is no blending of the choices. We can choose to avoid the conflict that comes from standing with Jesus, or we can accept all that he taught and all that he endured. The Lord tells us that it is enough to be like the Teacher and the Master, with the implication being that the world can make no such offer. It will be a difficult identity to take on, though – God’s way will always be the right way, but the world will see it differently - they want to see right and wrong, truth and lie, as a relative thing, with each person determining right and truth for themselves. And that is what the Pharisees were all about – their “right” versus Jesus’ wrong.
Read Matthew 10:26-33
In both Matthew (6:25-34) and Luke (12:22-34), we read of Jesus’ teaching on worry. In each of these passages, the intent of the teaching is that worry gains us nothing. Worry about the basics for our human existence – our needs for food, clothing, shelter, and so on, will all be overseen by Almighty God. Matthew tells us to strive for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will come along with them. Luke tells us that wherever, and whatever, our “treasure” is, our hearts will be there also. In other words, keep the first things first, and everything else will fall into place.
Our text for today carries along this very thought, except it focuses more on fear than on simple worry. But the point is the same – Keep the faith, and all that this may entail! The world, in a word, is a “distraction”! The ways of earth create confusion within our minds and hearts, and that is exactly what Satan is all about. He wants us to be uncertain when it comes to our relationship with God, he wants chaos to rule in our lives, he wants us to lose our nerve when it comes to proclaiming Christ, and he sows doubt within our faith. These warnings aren’t intended to be for those who have yet to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior – they are cautions for all who have given their lives to Christ – they are for the Church. Never doubt that Satan is at work right here among us.
You see, Satan is constantly at work to turn us away from God. Not in big ways, but through doubt and confusion. That was exactly what he did in the garden when he convinced Eve to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge – he made her wonder just what God had actually told them about the tree. (Genesis 3:1-7) And that is how he works against us – always raising questions in our minds. “Are you sure that scripture actually says that?” or “That part isn’t all that important – God loves you anyway, so don’t worry about it.” or “That commandment was only for the people of that day – it really doesn't apply now!”
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it! But these last 2 verses are the focal point – that whoever remains faithful to Jesus, including his ways and all that he taught, will know the glory of heaven, but if we turn away, if we accept the lie that most of scripture was never meant to apply to our lives, we will be denied that glory. In John’s gospel, 1:14, we read that Jesus is truth and that there is no other, and later in 8:31-33, we read that if we follow Christ’s teaching, we will be in the truth, and that the truth will set us free.
And what will we be freed from? From the confusion and doubt that the world causes. From the darkness of earth that is intended to hide the truth of Christ. From the lies that would lead us away from the Light of God.
Read Matthew 10:34-39
There are a number of passages in the Gospels where it appears that Jesus is telling us to ignore our human family, when actually he is saying that we are to see our “family” in a much greater way (Matthew 12:46-50). Human relationships will break and fall apart, but the “family of God” is eternal. There will even be dissention and disagreement over what “faith in Christ” is all about, and the arguments will cause more problems inside the church than even those that occur outside of faith. Jesus must always come first, even before our families, and especially before ourselves.
In William Barclay’s commentary on Chapter 10 of Matthew’s gospel, he writes of a man who was asked if he was a Christian. He replied “’Yes, but not offensively so.’ He meant that he did not allow his Christianity to interfere with the society he kept and the pleasure he loved.” Barclay goes on to explain that some who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ hold out no expectation that they will ever be different than they were before they came to know Christ. They continue to put the world first, and Jesus has to take a back seat to worldly pleasures. When we try to keep peace with our families and friends by remaining silent in our faith, when we hesitate to speak a word that embraces Christ’s way, when we refuse to appear offensive against the ways of earth, it is then that we have just refused to pick up our own cross so that we might follow the Lord’s ways – it is then that our life is lost.
In our faith walk, there is no room for safety, or ease and comfort, or personal security, or fulfillment of our dreams and ambitions. But there can be great joy, as well as the promise of eternal life with Jesus, IF we remain in his way and do as he says. (Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:11-27) The secrets of eternity will be revealed to us; the plan of God will be understood one day; we will experience the working of the Lord through our faithful response to the Spirit’s leading; the love of Christ will work wonderfully within us; and we will come to know the power and majesty and glory and hope that comes to us, simply by faithful obedience to Christ and his teaching.
And that will be enough.
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