Devotions • First Things First @ First
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Listen to what Jesus says to his friends. “I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you… So remember and never forget to love one another.” (John 15:14-17; The Message)
Do you hear what Jesus is saying to his friends? I love you. I have chosen you. You are connected to the Father because of me. You are my friends. It’s really not a very complicated message. No real cute turns of phrase. It’s a real simple message that I hope you hear from God today. This is what Jesus is saying to you: I love you.
Not the kind of love we’re accustomed to. Not the kind of love we often give. Not the “I love you if,” or “I’ll love you when,” or “I love you because” sort of love. “I love you period,” Jesus says. And I always have! That is what he wants you to hear.
I don’t know what issues you’re up against today. I know occasionally life will chip away at us some. We get our head down a little bit. Things aren’t going the way we had hoped they’d go. Maybe there’s a significant thing going on in our life. Jesus says to you right now: I love you. That’s what he said to his friends. That is what he is saying to you.
Then he said, “I chose you also. I picked you to be my friend.” Do you remember what it was like as a kid when you were waiting to be picked to play kickball? You waited and you hoped they’d pick you. Do you remember those days? You didn’t want to be picked last. You wanted somebody to choose you.
In my third grade class, no one ever had to worry about being picked last... That is except for Robby. He always got picked last. Robby wasn’t very coordinated. He was a loner and awkward. Nobody ever picked Robby.
I look back all these years with some regret now because I joined in just like everybody else when it came time to not pick Robby. I would love to have some of those times back. I hope through the years, somebody has been a better friend to Robby than I ever was in third grade. I hope they told him about the One who says to Robby and to me and to you, “I picked you. I’m choosing you. I choose you.”
That’s what God is saying to you. I’m not choosing you because you’re athletic. I’m not choosing you because you’re smart or good-looking or talented. I’m not choosing you because someone stuck a plaque on your wall or they put you on the front of a magazine. I’m choosing you because I love you.
When you watch Jesus’ life, that’s the message he gave to every person he encountered. I love you. I choose you. That’s the message he wants you to hear.
Almost all of our lives, we’ve based our value, our worth on how we’re loved and have responded and acted and reacted based on whether or not somebody picks us.
Do you hear Jesus? “I just want to be your friend. I choose you. I want to connect you back to the Father. And you’re going to be amazed at what he can do for you. If you know me, you know him. I love you and I choose you.”
May the friendship Jesus offers you today permeate your heart, your life, and your friendships! Have a blessed day!
-Pastor John
Thursday, May 29, 2008
In the book of 1 Samuel Hannah was deeply distressed and she prayed to the Lord – she poured out her soul, she gave her problem to God. Out came her anxiety and her pain and in the midst of her praying, she learned that God was truly there. Chapter 1, verse 18 says that after praying “she went her way and ate something and her face was no longer downcast.”
You’ve got to note the chronology. It wasn’t that her face was no longer downcast once her prayer was answered – that would happen months later. Her face was no longer downcast when she poured her heart out to the Lord.
And that’s what God is calling us to do today. Sometimes in life God will take problems that we face and he’ll use them as a lever to get us into a different posture, to shake us out of our set ways, to get us as one poet said to “stop hugging harbors.” God takes our problems and uses them to change us and all he asks is that we offer a simple prayer.
Paul wrote, “In everything let your requests be made known to God – and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds!” It’s amazing how many people have shared with me that their spiritual life has deepened tremendously out of deep desperation? Jesus says, “Come to me, Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest.” He says, “Come to me” and the invitation there is to simply put your problems at his feet.
I can think of times in my own life and I am sure you can think of times in your life when God has had to bring you to our knees, but in that moment of surrender, of simple prayer, everything changed.
Do you carry a weight, a heavy burden today? Are you anxious about a current problem maybe related to health or relationships? Or are you feeling beaten down by a long-standing problem that just won’t go away? Through prayer God is inviting you and me to come home; to come to that place where the peace of our hearts and minds is guarded. Won’t you come home to your Father today?!
-Pastor John
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I don’t know about you, but even now when I visit other churches while on vacation, every time I come into worship, I do the same thing. I sit down, open the bulletin and you know what I look for? I look for my favorite songs/hymns. I look for choir anthems that I want to hear, the preacher that I want to listen to. I look for what pleases me. Now there’s nothing wrong with singing songs that we like. But I have to confess, my attitude toward worship at those moments isn’t quite right. Instead of asking: How can I, in this time of worship, offer something to God? Or better yet: What might God be planning to do to me in this hour of worship? I come in asking instead: What can I get out of today’s service?
It’s so easy to come into worship looking for my tastes and my desires to be met, rather than thinking about how I might offer my life to Jesus. And I think that’s a commentary on what worship has become in our country: it’s become a matter of taste.
But it’s deeper than that. Worship isn’t just actively following along. Worship happens when we dedicate our whole lives entirely to God. To present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God means to present everything we have, our arms, our legs, our hands, our feet, our time, our agenda, our money, even those things we’re ashamed of like our fears, our sins, our failures. Jesus wants those too. It’s taking everything we have and saying, "Here I am Lord. It’s all yours."
May this summer be a time of refreshment and continue to be a time where we say just that: Lord: it’s all yours!
-Pastor John
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A friend of mine recently attended the largest evangelical church in Milwaukee, WI. Their pastor got up and said, “We don’t do this here but, just for fun: The Lord be with you!” The entire throng of thousands of worshippers cried in unison, “And also with you!” What my friend realized in that moment was that this worship hall/auditorium was packed with former Lutherans and Catholics.
Which begs the question: Why? What’s the draw? Why, year after year, is the Lutheran church (as well as many of the mainline churches) declining in membership while non-denominational and large evangelical churches seem to be thriving? More to the chase: Why are their worship halls filled with our former members?
I have no easy answers, only observations. One factor is that within mainline denominations these days there exists a certain measure of entropy – a general malaise that has allowed those on the fringes of our tradition to come to places of power and articulate agendas which have made many head for the hills and left others of us simply scratching our heads.
Sadly, in mainline Protestantism, we’ve taken our eyes off that which really matters or, worse yet, simply become bored with what God died to give us.
The churches that are growing have not! They’ve passionately and enthusiastically committed themselves to the things that most all our churches had once committed themselves to: excellent preaching, anointed teaching, inspiring worship, passionate evangelism, compassionate outreach, worldwide mission, and dynamic children’s ministries which, collectively, demonstrate to the world their profound dedication to making Christ Jesus known, experienced, and adored.
Some have tried to right the ship within our denomination with a focus on being “confessional” or “orthodox.” While that may be all fine and well, we will not attract new followers and move the kingdom forward by focusing on who it is we used to be or by reestablishing bygone structures. Our problems run deeper.
The root disease we are experiencing is less doctrinal and more spiritual. Just as with the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:4), so too have we lost our first love! We have turned the gospel into things like justice, inclusion, affirmation, community, welcome, environmentalism, activism, etc. and, of course, these things can each be good. But to make them the gospel makes them nothing but another good-work! People will tire of such works and yearn for places where Jesus himself is made known – places that have a theocentric thrust rather than an anthropocentric one; places where Jesus is worshipped and glorified, where his Word is proclaimed and taught with relevance, where his Spirit takes cold hearts and weekly warms them with his grace; places where broken lives can weekly find healing; places where God is seen, heard and experienced and where the kingdom moves forward into people’s hearts, into their homes, and into their little communities.
My experience is that churches that do that with passion, creativity, and excellence will grow! The boats have stopped coming from northern Europe, and unless we recommit to making First things First, we will go the way of many churches that exist for little other purpose than being a funeral society with weekly meetings. May we do all that the growing evangelical churches are doing—after all, my friends, they learned their methods from us—we’ve simply forgotten them along the way! People: it’s time for a revival! Let’s let Jesus fill us again with his passion, his love, his life, his grace!
-Pastor John
Thursday, April 17, 2008
The Lutheran theologian Karl Barth was once asked a question when he was lecturing at Princeton: “Sir, don’t you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?” Barth’s answer stunned the crowd. With a modest thunder he answered, “No, God has not revealed himself in any religion, including Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son.”
I think that is perhaps the deepest insight of the Christian faith. If we want to know who God is, if we want to know what he is really like, we already have our answer. The only answer is “Jesus Christ.” Jesus shows who God is, for Jesus is God.
The Scriptures tell us that in Christ Jesus “the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Col. 1:19) In the Nicene Creed we profess that that Jesus is: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.”
This is the core Christian faith: Jesus is God. Whatever he says, whatever he does, it is God doing it. What is God like? He is the kind of a God who loved you and me so much, loved us so much, that he died for us. Whoever has seen Jesus hanging on the cross has seen the Father, and knows that God is so full of love that he would even die for us.
Don’t get me wrong. God’s presence can be experienced in nature or out in the woods too. He’s there. It’s just that if that’s the only place that you look for him, then you don’t know God.
Of course, the woods are beautiful on a nice spring day; God can seem really good and loving in the woods. But what about when a forest fire hits? Would God still seem so good and loving? How loving does God seem in the aftermath of a destructive earthquake or to the farmer in the midst of a wrenching drought? If nature were all you had to go on, would you think that God is always loving and merciful? No. We really only know who God is, through Jesus.
My dear friends. Not all faiths are created equally! It really does matter what you believe, or rather in whom you believe. It matters. It’s not enough merely to say that you believe in God, because you might not really know who God is. Simply put, on our own we can’t know who God is; we need Jesus to make God known.
Martin Luther made the same point so well in one of his sermons. He said:
“This is the knowledge in which St. John, an outstanding evangelist with regard to this theme, and St. Paul instruct more than the others do. They join and bind Christ and the Father so firmly together that we learn to think of God only as Christ. As soon as we hear the mention of God’s name, or of his will, his works, his grace, or his displeasure, we must not judge these as the voice of our heart ... but we must nestle and cuddle on the lap of Christ, like dear children on their mother’s lap or in her arms, and close our eyes and ears to everything but him and his words.”
Just cuddle up on Christ’s lap! Cuddle up on his lap, and close your eyes and ears to everything but his word. We have a God who is so loving that you can cuddle up to him, so loving that he died for you. With Jesus, there’s no way you can miss that loving God!
-Pastor John
Thursday, March 27, 2008
It wasn’t just Thomas who doubted, you know. Abraham, Sarah, Elijah, John the Baptist all were doubters. Jesus’ family thought he was crazy. All the disciples ran away. There were lots of doubters, and God doesn’t give up on any of them.
And isn’t that wonderful news, especially since, when you think about it, there’s really no such thing as doubt-free living. Part of what it means to be a finite creature is that there is no escape from doubt. This hits us in many arenas. Whether it’s getting married, having children, moving for a career… even buying a car or a home, we live in the condition of doubt.
There can be a number of factors in why folks doubt. Sometimes it can be because of depression. Sometimes it can be if we’re sinning in a certain way, then we don’t want to believe certain things. But partly, doubt is an inescapable feature of being finite—of being a creature. If you want a doubt-free existence, you’ve chosen the wrong species. That’s part of why in this little book in the Bible—Jude—there’s a brief statement: “Be merciful to those who doubt.” (Jude 1:22)
If you wait until all doubt is removed before you make a commitment, you’ll never get married, you’ll never take a job, and you’ll never have a child. You’ll never make a friend. You’ll never follow God. Doubt is part of the human condition.
The words of Jesus’ “Great Commission” were spoken to his disciples, and these are the last words used to describe the disciples in Matthew’ gospel - our last glimpse at those who followed Jesus for three years, learned from him, saw him crucified, saw him resurrected: “Then the disciples went to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:16-17)
Isn’t that amazing? They’ve seen him, listened to him, followed him, studied him, seen him crucified, seen him resurrected … and the last thing it says about them is “and some doubted.” Matthew doesn’t cover this up. He points it out.
Jesus looks at these worshipping doubting guys and says: You go! You doubters, go. You risk your lives for me. You change your world for me. And you will find as you go that it is your own doubts that are healed.
Disciples are not people who never doubt. They doubt and worship. They doubt and serve. They doubt and help each other with their doubts. To be a community where everybody can be open about their faith and open about their doubts … what a great gift! That’s what we’re going to do here in Richmond Beach… doubt and do community together!
-Pastor John
Thursday, February 7, 2008
One of the deepest needs we have as human beings is to belong! That’s why the ministry of our Hospitality Teams is so important. People don’t just feel as though they belong because they darken our doors. They need to be made to belong.
All of us need to be made to belong – we need to be loved, we need to be embraced. Dag Hammarskjöld, in his book Markings, captured the essence of this when he wrote, “As a husband embraces his wife’s body in faithful tenderness, so the bare ground and trees are embraced by the still, high light of the morning. I feel an ache of longing to share in this embrace, to be united and absorbed….” We need to be loved. That is part of who we are. That’s who I am and who you are.
It’s because Jesus offers us unconditional love that we need to heed Joel’s prophetic words and begin our Lenten journey with the single most important movement of our hearts—we need to return to the Lord. We need to turn again to the hearing of His word; we need to join with God’s people each week as we partake of his meal where we hear again and again of His love for us. We need to turn to the Lord so that we might hear that Jesus Christ accepts us just as we are.
As I was looking for a Valentine’s Day card for Elizabeth, I came across one that was particularly corny, but one that also conveys well God’s steadfast love for us. It read:
“Love you cheerful, love you scrappy;
Love you tearful, love you happy.
Love you mopey, love you sweetly;
Love you, love you, so completely.”
That’s God’s promise to us! This Lent, I adjure you: Return to the Lord -- hear his unconditional love for you.
When that sense of belonging is absent, when we’re left on our own, there’s a funny thing that happens to people—we tend to become more and more turned in on ourselves. We fail to see the needs, the hurts, the joys, and the concerns of others. We can only see our own needs and longings.
British actor Michael Wilding was once asked if actors had any traits which set them apart from other human beings. “Without a doubt,” he replied. “You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves.” Isn’t that true of so many of us?! The evangelist Dwight Moody once observed, “God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” It’s easy to find ourselves too busy to notice others and to only be absorbed with ourselves.
Because Jesus Christ frees us from our self-addiction, because he is the one who is able to help us not to be so self-absorbed, we need to return to the Lord. Jesus shows us what it means to live for another and to die for another. Then He says, “Follow me.”
This Lenten season: Return to the Lord. Find meaning not only for your life, but also meaning beyond yourself.
-Pastor John
Thursday, January 31, 2008
If you’ve recently applied for a mortgage, you know what a hassle that can be. Lenders want to know things about you. Mostly they want to know how much you’re worth! Whenever I hear the question, “How much are you worth?” I feel a little insecure. I wish I was worth millions of dollars. I read once that all the minerals in our body, if sold, are worth about $16. At least I know I am worth something.
But the truth is that we’re all worth a lot more than we realize. It’s important to understand your personal worth. It affects how you live your everyday lives.
Now, we have no value of our own, to be sure. We are not worthy or valuable except in that God loved us so. We bring nothing to the table, no value, no merit, no worth. Scripture says the best we can offer God is as filthy rags. Really, who wants a bunch of filthy rags?
But God sees us, even in our sin, as treasures – worth even the life and suffering and death of his own Son. And there at the cross of Jesus he makes us into the treasures that shine with heaven’s brightness forever. What are you worth to God? Everything.
What would you pay for a dream vacation? Thousands of dollars?
What about the best luxury home on the market? Millions?
What about the assurance of eternal salvation? Priceless!
And only Jesus can pay that price. Even if you literally sold everything you had and donated it to First Lutheran and went to live in Africa serving the poor and HIV infected babies, it still isn’t enough. You would still be lost if you didn’t have Jesus.
But Christ Jesus has paid the price and bought you back; your value to God depends on HIM not on YOU. That’s why you can rest assured knowing the treasure of God’s kingdom is yours forever. Because Jesus put it on his tab, and there’s no credit limit there…
His grace will never be declined.
His mercy will never go bankrupt.
His love will never be repossessed.
His promises are more than FDIC insured – they are eternally trustworthy and true.
May you always treasure him who has treasured you so much!
-Pastor John
Thursday, January 24, 2008
How does Jesus get people like you and me to follow him? In the Bible, how does he get men to drop their nets and drop their very lives to follow him? Interestingly, it’s not by convicting them of their sins. In the Bible, these fishermen are not penitent sinners. That’ll come later. Neither are they seekers who have made a theological discovery about Jesus. That’ll come much later. At this point they know very little about Jesus. We can’t even say they have faith yet, and we certainly can’t say that they understand where following him may lead. But there’s just something about Jesus that’s so compelling that these men immediately drop everything to follow him! It’s as if this were the call for which they had been waiting their whole lives.
Which brings me to my point (a very Lutheran one, at that). The decision to start following Jesus is not rational or irrational. It’s a-rational. That is to say, rationality has little to do with it. When you think about it, it’s exactly like the other important decisions of your life. The most important commitments you’ve made in life have come about not because you made a list of pros and cons, but because something inside you jumped up to say, “I have to do this!”
When a couple comes to see me for premarital counseling, I’m always struck by the difficulty they have describing why they want to get married. With perfect rationality they can explain why they’ve chosen their particular jobs. They can tell me why they’re Democrats or Republicans, why they like Fords better than Chevys, and even why they prefer Chex to Cheerios. But when it comes to explaining why they’re about to get married, making the greatest commitment of their lives, they get all gushy and sentimental. Finally, they say something like, “I just have to do this.”
Why do they later decide to have children? What rational process was at work then? It wasn’t to save money or to sleep better at night. Why does anyone choose to raise a child? For the same reason a person gets married, and for the same reason a person rises to take a stand on an issue of justice, and for the same reason a person starts to follow Jesus. Because they’re called to it! It’s just something they have to do!
This is so hugely important so let me be clear! The journey of those who follow Jesus Christ begins not with a decision, but with a response… a response to his decision to call you. And if you want to know whether he’s called you or not, look deep within those papers stuffed in your drawer or that old shoe box and pull out the one that’s called, “Certificate of Baptism.” It was there, at your baptism, that you were not only washed of your sins and connected eternally to your Savior, but it was there that you were called to be his follower; called by One whose love for you is so compelling, so overwhelming that, once you’ve experienced it, you’ll know that following him is just something you gotta do!
-Pastor John
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Gregory of Nyssa was one of the early church fathers in the 4th century. He wrote:
At horse races, the spectators, intent on victory, shout to their favorites in the contest. From the balcony, they incite the rider to keener effort, urging the horses on while leaning forward and flailing the air with their outstretched hand instead of a whip.
He takes this picture and then says,
I seem to be doing the same thing myself, most valued friend and brother. While you are competing admirably in the divine race, straining constantly for the prize of the heavenly calling, I exhort, urge and encourage you vigorously.
Gregory says, “I’m up in the stands. I’m watching my friend run the race, and I’m cheering them on. ‘You’ve only got this one race, and God is with you so don’t stop. You keep running the race!’”
The Bible implores us to encourage one another to love and good works! Some people do that for you. When you’re with them, they fill your spiritual gas tank through their encouraging words and ways. Then you have some other people in your life. When you’re not looking, they stick a hose in your tank, take a deep breath and start siphoning the fuel out. They drain you of life. They bring you down.
One pastor tells the story of a man and his barber. The man tells his barber about his life, his family, everything. The barber’s one of these guys who is never impressed, never excited about anything. The day comes when the man is getting ready to go to Italy, where he’s going to have an audience with the Pope. His barber is Catholic, so he’s sure that the barber will be excited about this. He tells him, but the barber says, “Big deal. You won’t be able to see him. He’ll be way far away. Why would he take time for you?!”
The guy goes to Italy, and he comes back and goes to get his haircut. He says to the barber, “You’ll never believe this, but I got to meet the Pope.”
The barber says, “You did not.”
“Yes, I did. I was in a receiving line and got to come right past his chair. I got to shake his hand. I knelt down in front of him. I took his hand. I kissed his ring. I bowed my head before him. And the Pope spoke to me.”
The barber is impressed in spite of himself. He asks, “What did the Pope say?”
He said, “Where did you get that lousy haircut?”
We have some of those folks in our lives: people who are the “joy-challenged, dream-squashing, fault-finding, slow-air leaks in the hot air balloon of your life.” We’re to love them, but we’re to guard our hearts!
Fortunately, for many of you, you have others who build you up, cheer you on and give you fuel for your journey! The main person, who wants to be in your balcony, cheering you on, is Jesus. He’ll run the race with you; he’ll be your Savior and friend and leader and cheer you on.
Today, let’s cheer others on so that they might be all they can be in Christ!
-Pastor John
Thursday, December 27, 2007
“Before Christ I valued things and used people.
After Christ I value people and use things.” --St. Francis DeSalle
David Burton, a 70-year-old retired teacher, was overcome. The tears threatened to flow and David’s voice caught as Brian, a former student, talked to him. David had taught at a rough high school, yet, dozens of his students eventually became believers—many of them entering the ministry as pastors and missionaries. Brian had tracked down his former teacher and told him of the many conversions that happened while David taught at that high school.
Brian asked his former teacher how he’d brought such a spiritual harvest. And the old teacher told him that many times he had prayed softly over his classes as he sat back in his desk and watched them work. But apart from that, he’d done nothing to influence these students toward Christ. (Leadership; Fall 2002; pg. 67)
“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The coming of Jesus is the entering of God’s eternal light into every nook and cranny, every classroom and boardroom in the world.
Has anyone prayed for you lately? Have you prayed for anyone? Push back the darkness. Pray for your family. Pray for your friends. Pray for your students, employees, and bosses. Pray for your enemies. And the darkness can’t overcome you. My dad has told me often through the years how every night he prays for me and for my family. I can’t begin to tell you the darkness that those prayers have overcome for me! What a difference they’ve made!
This season of Christmas: receive the light; rekindle the light; let the power of God be released in your life and through your witness into the lives of others. Receive the Light of heaven; walk in this light; share this light, and receive grace upon grace in a world that is so often values things and uses people.
-Pastor John
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Bret Harte wrote a book entitled The Luck of Roaring Camp. According to the story, Roaring Camp was the meanest, toughest of all mining camps and boasted that they had more murders and thefts than anywhere else. In amongst all the men there was one woman, that is, until she died while giving birth to a baby.
The men took the baby, and they put her in a box, wrapping her in some old rags. When they looked at her, they decided that it didn’t look right, so they sent one of the men into town to buy a rosewood cradle. When they put the baby in the cradle with the old rags it still didn’t look right, so they sent another man into town to buy beautiful silk and lace blankets. They put the baby in the rosewood cradle and wrapped the blankets around her.
They all stood back and admired the baby in the cradle and felt satisfied until one of them noticed how filthy the room was. So those hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees and scrubbed the floor, they washed down the walls and the ceiling, cleaned the dirty windows and hung curtains. They planted flowers, and they made a very nice garden. Now things were beginning to shape up as a place fit for a baby.
Then they realized that babies need a lot of sleep and so they had to stop the loud talking, arguing and brawling caused by their drunkenness. They had to change their drinking habits.
And when the miners went to the cradle and the little baby would take hold of their fingers they noticed how dirty their hands were. Very soon, the general store was all sold out of soap and razors and after-shave.
Nothing was ever the same again at Roaring Camp -- the birth of a baby had changed everything. A baby had touched the lives of each miner and so changed the atmosphere of the whole camp.
Our world is a lot like Roaring Camp! Next week we celebrate the birth of Jesus: the baby who changes hearts, the Savior who died on the cross, the Lord who lives and works to change the world through you! What a Merry Christmas it is!
-Pastor John
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A few years ago a group of salesmen were late in getting to the airport to catch their flight to a regional sales convention in Chicago. In their rush through the airport terminal one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.
ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told them he’d be late for the convention. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.
The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay? She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister.... “He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, “Are you Jesus?”
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul.
“Are you Jesus?” Do people mistake you for Jesus? That’s our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.
Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged souls.
--Author Unknown
-Pastor John
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the story of Jesus driving out the merchants and money changers from the Temple. Sometimes we think that what angered Jesus and made him throw over the tables of the moneychangers and clear the terrace with a whip was that he hated bake sales in the narthex. Jesus doesn’t care that the youth sell Christmas ornaments in the atrium after worship. What angered—what infuriated Jesus was something much deeper—it was that something and someone was coming between God and God’s people.
In a day in which people were made to purchase things in order to offer appropriate sacrifices, usually at exorbitant prices, Jesus raged against anything that would impede people’s free and unfettered access to God.
You’ll notice in the Bible that there’s not a lot that gets Jesus really angry, but you wouldn’t believe how furious he gets when something comes between God and the people God loves!
- Jesus says to the moneychangers—Get out of here! And Jesus is still speaking today!
- Jesus speaks to the guilt and shame that has come between you and God…
- Jesus speaks to the fear in your heart …
- Jesus speaks to your feelings of being unloved…
- Jesus speaks to your feelings of angst toward the church and toward the hypocrisy you experience and the judgmental attitudes you feel…
- Jesus speaks to your busyness and your laziness…
Jesus speaks … and, with the anger of a passionate lover, he says to all of that which stands between you and God: Get out of here!
Jesus hates anything that comes between God and his love for you! You see, his love for you includes his hating (yes, hating) those things that seek to destroy you. He has such zeal for you because he knows that God doesn’t live in some Temple made out of stones, but that God lives in you. You are the Temple for which he has such extraordinary zeal!
My friends: know that “Nothing in all of creation is able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
-Pastor John
Thursday, November 29, 2007
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
In this world, if joy is to exist at all, it will have to be able to exist alongside of suffering. In fact, I think one of the tests of authentic joy as opposed to cheap, circumstantial happiness or pleasure is its ability to exist in the midst of pain. Karl Barth once said joy is a defiant “Nevertheless!” … Where there is pain and suffering, there is a defiant “Nevertheless I will rejoice.”
“This is the day that the Lord has made.” This day right here. And the reason that we can rejoice in this day even though horrible things are going on in our world is this: The Bible tells us that “for the joy set before him,” Jesus endured the Cross, was scorned and shamed, was buried in a tomb, and everybody thought all their joy was buried with him. And then on the third day—on the third day after Jesus was buried, God said to the stone: Roll away! And the stone rolled away. And God said to his Son, Jesus: Son, it’s time to get up! And with Christ’s glorious rising, on that day our joy returned to us.
And every day since then has been a gift… every day since. I don’t know what’s going on today for you, but today’s a gift. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
What is even the happiest person without faith? A beautiful flower in a glass of water without roots and without endurance. -Ludwig Börne
-Pastor John
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
First impressions are important! They go a long way in helping us to size up a person or a situation. Our first impressions put our thoughts on a definite track and it can be very difficult for us to change our impressions when our first impressions have left such an indelible mark in our minds.
My grandpa used to own and operate a Variety Store in Windom, Minnesota. He used to spend time every month decorating the front window display areas. I have come to learn why he was so diligent in his task. He wanted to catch the attention of potential shoppers by giving them a good first impression.
In the Bible we read of Jesus’ trials before Herod and Pilate, the spit on his body, the spikes driven through his flesh, and his suspension on a cruel cross – this is the definition of humiliation. How would he have responded? We have to listen and listen carefully. For if we strain our ears, across the centuries his voice comes clear and strong saying, “Father, forgive them.” That is what was always up front in the life of Jesus: forgiveness.
Our first impressions and last impressions of Jesus is that he offered unilateral, one-sided forgiveness to all who were in need.
- When some men broke a hole in the roof of a house Jesus was visiting and lowered a paralyzed friend to him, Jesus immediately said, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
- When a woman of dubious reputation rushed up to Jesus and washed his feet with her tears, Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven.”
- When a woman was caught in the act of adultery, Jesus announces to her that her sins were forgiven.
Jesus didn’t wait for people to grovel, to plead, or even to ask for forgiveness. He offered forgiveness up-front and, like a beautiful window display, he drew many to him who were in need of such grace. He took the initiative and offered forgiveness without waiting for repentance. He offered forgiveness up-front because he knew that only unilateral forgiveness had the power to change lives and keep them changed.
May these first impressions Jesus gives to the world leave a lasting impression upon our lives today!
-Pastor John
P.S.… people also have first impressions of churches based on how well they are treated or how much they are ignored.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Jesus said, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?!” --John 8:10
When a woman caught in adultery was thrown down before Jesus to judge, Jesus, we are told, got down on his knees to write in the dirt. Jesus then looked up at the angry crowd and said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Jesus then got back on the ground and kept writing. The stone-throwers skulked away leaving the woman with Christ alone!
Much has been made of what Jesus might have been writing that sent the stone-throwers away. But maybe that’s not the issue! Imagine the scene! Was Jesus possibly getting down on the ground with the woman to form a human shield between her and her stone-wielding accusers? Was Jesus essentially saying, “Go ahead! Throw the stone. But you will have to go through me first?”
Jesus takes upon himself the painful and deadly stones of judgment thrown our way. That’s his promise to us! And through Jesus’ willingness to take on the punishment we deserve, the voices of shame are sent skulking away!
As one of my favorite hymns puts it:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
Precious Lord Jesus – thanks for coming down to us amidst the dirt of our shame and for taking upon yourself the stones of judgment that I so readily deserve. Thanks for protecting me and for staying close to me and for giving my life a new beginning this day. In the love of Christ I stand! Amen
-Pastor John
Thursday, November 1, 2007 – All Saints’ Day
Many of us seem convinced that what God finds attractive are really good, successful people, who follow all the rules and are kind and tolerant and respectful of others, people who demonstrate strength of character and commitment. In a word: saints! And so we work really hard trying to become the sort of people that we believe God would find attractive.
But here’s a thought that maybe you’ve never considered, what if: What if instead of being attracted to strength and success and how hard we try, that instead God finds weakness lovable? That idea begins to make sense when you read through the Bible and start to notice the sort of people that God was attracted to:
- Jacob was a liar and a cheat.
- Moses was a murderer and a fugitive with a speech impediment.
- Rahab was a prostitute.
- Gideon was a coward.
- David was an adulterer and a murderer.
- Zacchaeus was a vertically challenged tax collector that no one trusted.
- Mary Magdalene was a demon possessed woman with a bad reputation.
- Peter had feet of clay.
- Paul claimed to be the worst of sinners.
Suddenly, when I look at my own life, at my weaknesses and shortcomings, I begin to realize: If God loves me then it must be true. God must be attracted to weakness!
I love the way Jim Cymbala puts it: I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.
Gracious God, with a universe so great, you could choose to live anywhere, yet you choose to honor sinners like us with your presence. Thanks for making my poor heart your home. Give me the grace to welcome you as I am now and not wait for improvements. Thanks for your love that will never let me go. Amen!
Happy All Saints’ Day you sainted sinners!
-Pastor John
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
“I think that Christianity has two emphases. One is a social emphasis to impart the values of the kingdom of God in society – to relieve the sufferings of the poor, to stand u for the oppressed, to be a voice for those who have no voice. The other emphasis is to bring people into a personal, transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, where they feel the joy and the love of God in their lives. Fundamentalism has emphasized the latter, mainline churches have emphasized the former. We cannot neglect one for the other!”
--Tony Campolo
Prayer: Creating God, thank you for making us in your dynamic image. May our hands give shape to your desires for your world. Help me to let go of my false fears and entrust to you the work of my hands. Let me trust that you are present in my life through Jesus, who brings your kingdom to life this very day. Amen.
-Pastor John
