Sunday October 4 Sermon

Training vs. Trying

 

Every year, around the time Easter rolls around, I look outside, and I look at the back porch, and I decide that it is time for me to rediscover my golf clubs. This is how it works. I turn on the television, and on Easter weekend I see the green grass and the beautiful flora and fauna of a little golf course in Georgia. I see these golfers grab their clubs, and hit 300 yard drives off of the tee, pitch and put for birdies, and contend for the Masters championship. I watch Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicolaus in years past, and I tell myself that what these professionals are doing does not look all that difficult. As a matter of fact, I am confident that although I am not as good of a golfer as they are, that I am capable of replicating what they do on a simpler course, like perhaps Cottonwood Links. So I find time to go out and golf.

 

Strangely, my golf game does not go as I imagine it. I can't hit my driver straight. The putt that looks simple I misread. Those short irons seem to go the right distance but I cannot hit the green. I mumble to myself and pout. I try really hard not to cuss, because nobody wants to hear a preacher cuss. Most of the time I am at least successful at controlling my tongue, but that is only because I catch myself after the first syllable. And I try not to throw or ground my clubs, but deep in the recesses on my mind, I know my father would be disappointed if I did that. I tell myself I was raised better. I have to wrestle against my temptation to give myself a 10 foot putt as a "gimme". And my afternoon of glory, beauty and accomplishment has turned into an afternoon of frustration, temptation and disappointment.

 

It wasn't that I didn't try hard. In fact, I put a lot of effort into golfing and golfing well when I went out and played. I put effort in warming up, practicing my putting, checking my stance, analyzing my swing, swinging hard—and on and on and on. But there is a huge difference between training and trying.

 

This seems fairly simple, but a lot of us have a hard time noticing this. I can go out and see a piece of land and try and build a home on it. And it may come time to do the wiring and electrical work. And I could look at two electricians to do the job. And if one said that he had no training in electrical work, and the other said he was a master electrician, I would choose the guy who had trained to be an electrician over the guy who had not done any of the training necessary but promised to try really hard.

What is true of the rest of our life can be true of our spiritual life as well. As I shared in a children's message several months ago, it is important to train and not simply to just try. Let's look at what the apostle Paul says about this in I Corinthians 9: 24-26 First in our pew Bible, since I promised to use that when I preach:

 

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

 

I know the training is hard to hear there. But remember verse 27, where it talks about disciplining his body and bringing it into subjection so that he is prepared for the race. That is where Paul compares being a disciple to being an athlete. And as Paul speaks, he begins talking about an athlete that not only tries hard, but trains, conditions, and practices his craft so that he can be the one that finishes the race and receives the prize. What this is telling us in part is growing in Christ is not simply a matter effort. If we want to grow in Christ we need to train, discipline and condition ourselves spiritually if we are to grow. Listen to how the NIV states the same passage, which better gets the gist of what the apostle Paul is trying to say here:

 

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

 

One of the reasons we have spent 6 weeks on the Lord's Prayer this year is to help encourage us and strengthen us to train in righteousness. That is also part of the reason we have been looking at different pathways to growth in recent weeks. Being still and silent before God is a kind spiritual training that helps you grow stronger in your faith when you practice it. Serving one another is a way of spiritual training as well. We choose to worship because it trains us to look at God as our example and as the one we give praise and priority to, and that trains us to be more like Jesus. When we are sharing our faith and our testimony, like we did during the worship service on the backyard mission project, it helps us to grow as well. So does our attitude, and what we choose to make our top priority. Even the habit of coming to the table, examining ourselves, and recommitting to follow Christ once a month is part of the training we put ourselves under to be more like Christ. That is why we are looking at each of these habits, and I am encouraging you to adding these "spiritual training" techniques into your toolbox for spiritual growth.

 

This is not the only place where Scripture talks about spiritual training. Listen to these other verses

⁷Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (I Timothy 4:7-8)

And

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

And

¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14)

And

¹⁰Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:10-12)

 

    So we don't just practice these spiritual practices that we have been learning about in Sunday School and in the sermons because they make us feel better about ourselves or because they are a part of some system that works. We learn about these things and live them because they help us become like the master teacher, who is Jesus.

 

    

 

The word disciple describes a person who has a certain kind of relationship with someone else. It comes from the same word as discipline, which is what someone does when they choose to train. A disciple is someone who finds a master teacher, and wants to be just like them. So they go where the teacher goes, and they seek to do what the teacher does, just the way that the teacher does it.

For example, if you knew someone who was a master fly fisherman, and you wanted to be a good fly fisherman yourself, you would do well to figure out how to imitate him. You would try and learn how to cast like him, set a hook like him, you would learn how to discern where the good fishing holes are, and you would learn why kinds of flies in what kinds of environments he used. And you would try to do the same as that fisherman did.

In other words, when we chose to follow Jesus we choose to be his disciple. And when we choose to be his disciple, we choose to train to be like him. Being a Christian, in a sense, is being an apprentice to Jesus. We become the spiritual apprentice, and Jesus is the master teacher. We learn to practice the habits he taught and lived. We learn to trust his way of doing things. In process, we learn to do things like him.

But in order to be like Jesus, we have to be with Jesus. We have to be connected to him, to spend time in his presence, to hear his voice and know what he would do.

Our ways of learning today often get away from this model. If you wanted to, you could find a way to get a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctorate and never leave your home. I think. We think learning is a matter of gathering facts and being able to spit them out. This is not a biblical model of learning. A biblical model of learning is about an apprentice not only figuring out the technique of the master, but about doing what the master would do because they have spent enough time with them, been connected enough to the master, that they know what the master would do.

This is why Scripture tells us in farming terms how important it is to be connected to our master teacher as Jesus' apprentices. To be connected to Jesus. As a matter of fact, Scripture commands that disciples abide with, or live with Jesus. This is what John 15 says,

 

¹ "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;^[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
⁵ "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will^[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

 

So, let us recap. First, Scripture really calls us not simply to try hard if we are to grow, we are commanded to participate in spiritual training. Like an athlete we are challenged to be train in a way that will help us to grow and get stronger spiritually. That training means practicing certain habits, or disciplines, that will make us stronger in our faith. Those habits include things like prayer, service, worship, and evangelism that we have looked at, as well as other habits we will look at in the coming weeks.

 

And now we learn, as a Christian who is training to be like Jesus, we need to be in the presence of Jesus. These techniques of training are not the goal of training. The goal of training is to be in the presence of Jesus so we can be like him. And as we seek to learn from him and follow him by being in his presence and doing what he says, we find that we grow, we learn, we mature spiritually. We not only want to know what Jesus does, we want to know how he does things, what his heart is like, what he thinks, and how he feels. We want to be like the master in those intangible ways as well.

 

So we come to this table. And we come here to examine our hearts. We come here to recommit ourselves to being apprentices to Jesus. We recommit to going where he goes, doing what he would have us to do, and following his training regimen. We remember HIS love, and commit to train to love a little bit like him. We remember his sacrifice, and we remember to offer our lives as living sacrifices. We remember his grace, and we remember to accept his grace. We come to this table, and we remember Jesus, and we take this time to be near to him. To remember that our life is in Him. His blood shed for us. His body broken for us. That he offers us life, and life more fruitful and abundant than we could ever imagine.

National Parks Documentary

Off and on the last couple days I have been trying to catch the documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I usually try and avoid PBS because, well, I don't think the government should be in the business of running a television station. And they seem to do it fairly poorly, from all of the lame fundraising drives I seem to hear and see when I do watch. Anyway...I am getting away from my point.

The documentary on the National Parks is extremely well done. It is unashamedly in support of the development and continued support of National Parks. It weaves a story of the history of people who were a part of the National Park movement, including folks like John Muir, John D. Rockefeller, John Dorr, Steven Mather, and of course Theodore Roosevelt.

What I find interesting, however, is the strong emphasis on the spiritual and in some cases the religious that permeates the documentary. Listen to the movie closely, and you cannot help but notice this. But this is even clearer in the episode titles. Episode 1 is entitled The Scripture of Nature. Morning of Creation is the title of the sixth and final episode of the documentary.

Muir was one, like Lincoln before him, who had a strong classical knowlege of both the Scriptures and Shakespeare. and used both to his advantage in crafting communication about the value of the parks.

Over and over again, we find among those who were the strongest advocates of the National Parks, a sense of the healing properties of those most treasured natural places in the lives of those who were the National Parks strongest advocates. Mather needed the parks for his mental health, Muir for his physical well-being. Again, a spiritual dimension to the documentary, emphasizing the almost supernatural power of natural places to heal and strengthen.

I am eager to see more of this documentary as is goes along. Have any of the rest of you out there been watching?

Bozeman

Beautiful sense of green grass rising into golden fields, which again rising into purple mountains, rising again into the blue cloudless sky.

Tetons

Tetons

Jenny and I in the Tetons at Jenny Lake

Trail

I thought this would just be a fun pic for thinking and meditating. There are certain images, perhaps some would call them icons, that often speak to me. One is a clear path in front of me. Another is a door, especially an open door. Certain kinds of bodies of water and trees also seem to provoke a strong emotional response in me. As do certain large rocks.

Jen at Jenny Lake in Tetons National Park

Fixed Hour Prayer

For around 6 months or so, I have made an off and on effort to participate in some sort of fixed-hour prayer. During this time, I have consistently felt like a failure at this project to my inability to practice this kind of prayer on a regular basis.

I tried to begin again with my effort to do fixed-hour prayer as a spiritual discipline. And, as often happens, I do well in the mornings when I am at an unhurried pace, and then fell short in the evening as things got easier.

This morning, I came to the conclusion that praying through my prayer book in the morning, a few times, and not getting to it more in the afternoon and evening is ok. In fact, it is good. It is working at centering me in the morning, and at times one or more of the Scriptures come to mind during the day.

Am I being to easy on myself?

Biography in Music: Middle School--The CCM Years

In between elementary school and middle school I had a major spiritual awakening impact my life. All of the sudden, everything changed. My politics went from liberal to conservative. I started to feel guilty about wearing shorts in the summer. And my music went from ecclectic to shunning all secular music whatsoever.

Thus, we listened to a radio station in Ashland called K-DOVE. I learned to appreciate the musical stylings of Carmen, Sandi Patti, the Winans, and Amy Grant. Of course, my church declared that all of the music I had listened to before was of the Devil. So, much of the music I had before went into the garbage as an act of compliance toward my faith.

Of the CCM artists of the mid-80s, Amy Grant was my favorite at the time. My church taught that all rock music had its roots with African Witch Doctors (can anyone say racism?), and that much of Christian music was thus corrupted because it had occult rhythms. Thus, kids should listen only to sacred music and classical music (what about the pagan stylings of Stravinsky?), and most "Christian" music was actually also evil. Thank God we moved before my freshman year in high school. Among many other things, it would eventually let me listen to some half-way decent music again.

To this day, if I have to listen to a song recorded by Sandi Patti, I want to hit someone.

Biography in Music: Elementary School

By the time I got out of Early Elementary school, I was beginning to find my own voice in my music selections. Which means, above everything, that my musical tastes became ecclectic.

Country

I had a strong affinity for country music in elementary school. I had heard a lot of it as a child, but certain artists began to grow on me. I remember asking for the Kenny Rogers greatest hits cassette, and getting it from my maternal grandmother. I also was a big fan of the album "Urban Chipmunk" from the Chipmunks. I remember my dad having a Hank Williams Jr. album in the house. I have always loved Bocephus.

Weird Al
I think every 5 to 10 years Wierd Al Yankovich makes a comeback because there is a whole group of elementary school boys discovers how fun and delicious parody is. I grew up at the height of Weird Al popularity. In 1984 "Eat It" came out on the album "Weird Al Yankovich in 3-D". It was his highest charting song until "White And Nerdy" charted higher a few years ago. I played that cassette for years until it fell apart, and loved every minute of it.

Heavy Metal and Hard Rock
In 6th grade I discovered groups such as Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Billy Idol, and the like. I remember sitting in the house in the dark with the curtains drawn just listening to the guitars and testosterone filled lyrics. I loved this music. I also felt like it had the potential to bring out the darkest moods in me. Nevertheless I listened and enjoyed. At least, until mom got home from work.

In addition to having this ecclectic collection of music that I enjoyed listening to, our culture also had one central event that drove my music taste:

MTV
I remember being in elementary school one summer, staying at home with my sister while my mom was working, and watching two things on cable that whole summer. One was the Los Angeles Summer Olympics. The other was this new thing called MTV. At that point they actually played music videos full-time, they had real VJs , and interviewed artists. It was extremely low budget, with a public access picture of a man landing on the moon as their introduction. It was great.

The Fair and Darius Rucker

Last Saturday night Jennifer and I went to the Colorado State Fair. Specifically we went to the fair because we had tickets to the Darius Rucker concert, but we went a couple of ours early because we wanted to check out the booths at the fair and look around.

I asked Jennifer to drive. She asked why. I said because I hate crowds and they make me uncomfortable. This led to a good conversation on my relationships to crowds of people. Do I have concerns about an anxiety disorder related to crowds? No. Do I like being in big groups of people with lots of strangers around everywhere? No I don't. Crowds drain me of my energy and put me a little on edge.

We found a nice little curb to park on and paid NOTHING. We were pretty stoked about that. We walked for several blocks to the entrance of the fairgrounds. It was a perfect evening for a walk. Then we went into the fairgrounds.

What I enjoy about fairs is walking past the booths and smelling all the smells and hearing all the sounds. Now, I could not enjoy this over a long period of time. But over a short period of time, the constant change in smells and the constant change in the crowds around us intrigued me. It made me think about and enjoy the diversity of tastes, perfumes, and people as we wandered around.

We made a few purchases, and got a little bit to eat, and then we went into the Darius Rucker concert. Here are a few of my quick hits of thoughts about the evening:

• Overall the concert was good. Well performed.



• I enjoyed Rucker's choices of songs to sing that were not songs he had recorded with either Hootie and the Blowfish, or on one of his other albums. These songs included: God Love Her (Toby Keith), You Don't Even Call Me By My Name (David Allen Coe), Family Tradition (Hank Williams Jr.) and In Pictures (Jamie Johnson). This was a good mix of old and new in my opinion. And he handled doing covers of others with humility and grace, including saying "this was the section of songs I wish I had wrote". I believe Family Tradition to be the ultimate blue-collar anthem, and this was demonstrated by the amount of men that stood up ONLY at this point in the concert.His use of these songs, as opposed to some country songwith a little more of a pop music sound adds to a sense that he is authentically a fan of country and singing country.



• Its amazing what happens when you ad a little fiddle and a little twang to a Hootie and the Blowfish song.






• Rucker's body movement while singing is unique. While he can authentically pull of a country music performance in every other way, his mannerisms while singing seem to always have an R&B/Blues effect. Adds to a sense of authenticity to his craft, but at times can be a little distracting to the music.



• The first encore Rucker sang a song a cappella. Man does that dude have a voice.



• By far the best performance of the night (besides the cover material) was the drinking and dialing song. Funny.



• He closed, strangely enough, with a country version of Prince's Purple Rain. The man can move across genres at light speed



• One of the most fun things in listening to Darius Rucker is that his baritone voice gives most altos, tenors, and basses a sense that they can sing the music with him and be on key. Yet, few have the tone depth of Darius Rucker.

Sermon 9.6.09

LONGING

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

 ¹ O God, You are my God;
         Early will I seek You;
         My soul thirsts for You;
         My flesh longs for You
         In a dry and thirsty land
         Where there is no water.
 ² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
         To see Your power and Your glory.
         
 ³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
         My lips shall praise You.
 ⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live;
         I will lift up my hands in Your name.
 ⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
         And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.
         
 ⁶ When I remember You on my bed,
         I meditate on You in the night watches.
 ⁷ Because You have been my help,
         Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
 ⁸ My soul follows close behind You;
         Your right hand upholds me.
         
 ⁹ But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
         Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
 ¹⁰ They shall fall by the sword;
         They shall be a portion for jackals.
         
 ¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God;
         Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
         But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

 

Today, after the sermon, we come to a table. A table with the fruit of vine, and food made from wheat from the ground. Simple common elements. Something to drink. Something to eat. To remember our Lord we have food and drink. Nothing fancy. Just a cup and a plate.

 

Many times as we have come to this table, we have come and remembered Christ's sacrifice for us. We remember that the bread represents his body, broken for us. We drink the cup and remember his blood that has been shed for us. We do well to do this. For there is no more pivotal event in history, no more important action of God in the world, no more loving act ever offered, than what Jesus did on the cross. Dying so that we might live. Loving us first so that we might learn to love. God is good. Nowhere do we see that more than when we remember Christ at the Lord's Table.

 

This morning, before we come to the table, I want us to examine our hearts. I want us to take inventory of what is going on in us, and where our heart is in relationship to Jesus. Scripture commands us to do this generally, and it encourages us in I Corinthians 11 to examine our hearts as we come to the Lord's Table (v.28).

 

How I want us to examine our hearts this morning is by looking at what the elements we have in front of us are as we partake in the Lord's Supper. What we have in front of us is food, and drink. Food and drink. When Jesus started to lay out how he wanted to bless his followers in the Sermon on the Mount he said "blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you shall be filled"(Matthew 5:6). When we look at the bread, we remember Jesus said "I am the bread of life" (John 6). When we look at the cup we remember Jesus said "I am the vine, and you are the branches" (John 15). Ever think about how we remember God with food and with drink? Interesting isn't it?

 

Then we come to the passage we just read earlier. This Psalm was written by King David. It was written as he was wandering around in the desert. Running for his life from King Saul. David had been anointed the future king, but Saul was still on the throne. He was moody, jealous of David, and out for blood. So David and his friends ran. And they hid in the caves and crags in the wilderness of Judah. I imagine he had gotten hungry and thirsty.

 

Have you ever been walking or riding out in the wilderness? Maybe you were out on a hunting trip, or maybe you were on a hike, or you were just working or playing a football game, and all of the sudden you became thirsty. And, if you were out hiking, all of the sudden you came to a place where you found some cool, safe water to drink. Or if you were playing volleyball or football, someone ran out a bunch of water during a timeout. You were hot. You were thirsty. You were drenched with sweat. All you could think of was having a bit of that nice, cool water on your tongue.

 

I think David must have felt like this when he was running from Saul. He was rushing through those dangerous, dry places. He was hot. He was climbing and running. And then he would get something to drink. And it was like he wanted that cool water more than anything in the world. At some point, after one of these experiences, he was left to think about how life was more than food and drink.

 

I think it must have been one of these times of reflection when God inspired David to write this Psalm, this prayer to Him.

 

You see our hunger for God should be as daily, and as central for our existence, as our hunger for food. Our thirst for God's presence and blessing, should be as daily, and as central to our existence and health as liquid we drink.

 

The Psalmist says of his thirst for God

"I seek you"

"I long for you"

"my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water"

 

He goes on to say

"my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness"

 

Do you hungry for God? Are you thirsty for more of God's presence and more of his blessings? Do you have a sense of spiritual longing? Are you looking to God to satisfy your deepest needs? Is knowing Jesus more and doing his will growing as a desire of your heart, or is that something on the backburner? Examine yourself and see!

 

Central to your spiritual well-being, your ability to grow in Christ, and your ability to have peace in Christ is having a sense of spiritual longing in your life. Longing to know God more. Longing to see more of God's power at work in your life. Longing to see more of Jesus present in your moment by moment living.

 

As you come to the table….I want you to think about this hope and this truth. Do I have the kind of longing for Christ and his kingdom in my life that drives it and defines my goals and my actions? Do I have the kind of longing for God and his presence that pursuing that love and that grace that it orients and defines whatever direction my life is going in? I hope that you do.

There are so many things that get in the way.

 

We can become hungry for financial security. And so, when it becomes time to give we become afraid to give. And so we work and work to try and develop some sort of financial security that will make us feel happy and safe and satisfied at some point. And we learn that we can never have enough money in savings, never enough food in the pantry, and never enough security in our hearts.

 

We can become hungry after pleasure. And we chase after whatever feels good. We get drunk, only to have a headache and a bunch of regrets in the morning. We sleep around, only to find out that that kind of pleasure doesn't satisfy in the way that we were promised. We buy new televisions and toys, clothes and vacations, hot tubs and houses thinking that each of these things will help us to feel satisfied. And we still feel hungry for more.

 

We can become thirsty for the approval for others. So we do what people ask of us. We do things we don't want to do, just to make the crowd or that special someone happy. We work to do things that will get us admired and respected by others. And we find that no matter how many people like us, we have other that do not appreciate anything we do. And no matter how many things we do to gain others approval, those people's approval is as fleeting as what we have done for them lately.

 

You can chase after all sorts of pleasures. You can desire all sorts of things that this world has to offer. You can thirst after all sorts of temptations, hopes and dreams. And they will be alright for a season, but then you will wake up and discover that your achievements are just achievements, your things are just things, your pleasures were only for the moment, and your life will seem empty, hapless, and hopeless.

 

Or you can come to the Lord's Table this morning. You can remember that Christ came to earth and died for us to not just help us escape from hell, but to satisfy our deepest thirsts and our most powerful hungers in ways that we have yet to imagine. I hope, I pray for you as you come to this table this morning that you will begin to commit to making Christ your passion. That knowing him and serving him will become your greatest desire. I pray you will make his presence and power in your life the deepest longing of your life. I hope that you will remember that he can fill you up full of hope, truth, and meaning. I pray that your thirsts, so often misguided, will finally be directed toward him who offers living Water and your hunger toward the Bread of life. And you will find that he satisfies.

Makes Me Homesick

ht Donald Miller

Sad But True....

ht: Mike DeVries

Quotes from Tilden Edwards on Spiritual Formation and Prayer

From the Book--Living the Presence

QUOTES
“…we are tempted to draw the experience toward us as a possession, a trophy to grasp, secure, and assimilate into a willed autonomous empire of self” (9)

“prayer is more a way of being than an isolated way of doing” (11)

“By the heart God can be gotten, by the mind never” from Cloud of Unknowing (12)

“Toward ourselves we become petty tyrants, invoking overstriving and a consequent sense of failure and guilt, or self-deception at every turn” (13)

“God meets with an open-armed cross rather than with an army” (12)

“Anything we do with our bodies is a form of prayer when our central intent is opening to God’s presence through it” (17)

New News in Duggarland

Apparently, the Duggar family is having child #19. There are a lot of things that I want to say about this, but I think it better to just ask questions. Honest questions. Here they are:

How healthy is it to have 19 children? For the mother? For the children's ability to have a full-compliment of healthy genes?

What kind of depression is in store for Ms. Duggar when she can no longer bear children? How will she cope?

Will the Duggar parents live to see all of their children grown?

How do the Duggar parents have any really good sex when there are 18 children running around?

In what ways is having another child furthering their television career/plot line?

I am just curious.....

Some Interesting Articles on Bible Interpretation

The end of the TNIV

Bible Manuscript Found

Biography in Music: Pre-school through Early Elementary School

As my parents started to drift apart, they decided to move into town. As we moved into town, we started spending a lot more time with my Aunt Teresa. This increased even more once my parents got divorced, and my aunt and my mother rotated child-care at different points.

My Aunt Teresa, for as long as I can remember, always drove Subaru station wagons (now known as a "crossover"). Driving with my Aunt Teresa was always fun, because she always had the cool music, and she was always willing to play that music with us.

Most of this music was also of the country variety. Knowing my Aunt Teresa now, this surprises me, because she is not the typical pusher of country music. But almost all of Aunt Teresa's country songs were fun. Perhaps most popular on our little road trips was the song "The Devil went down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels. Another well worn favorite song was "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys. I am sure my parents played these as well, but I associate them with my Aunt Teresa.

My aunt was also a big Stray Cats fan at this time. All of us kids LOVED the Stray Cats, and their reprisal of 50's style music. It was fun and playful.

Biography in Music: Early Childhood through Preschool

One of my earliest memories is listening to Linda Ronstadt on 8-track in my mother's car. I also remember the hymn "He's got the Whole World In His Hands" playing a lot on my mother's radio. As I researched this music on Itunes, and began to play the samples, I have in my mind's eye this mental picture of us in the back of our station wagon singing "You're No Good...You're No Good...You're No Good!, Baby You're No Good" (Heart Like a Wheel Album, released 1974).

Most of what I remember my dad listening to at that time was country music. Especially the early "outlaw country" crowd of Willie, Waylon and the gang.

When my parents were married, we had family friends that we spent a lot of time with. Most of their activities were wrapped around river rafting, or the women shopping with the kids while the men went fishing. In addition to this, there were many memorable barbeques at friends' houses when we were young. At one point, all of our families were living out in different parts of the country around Roseburg, Oregon. Again, during those gatherings, I also remember a lot of outlaw country

Loved seeing my Duck's on the Sports Illustrated Cover

Biography in Music: Introduction

I was sitting in my hotel room with my roommate for my conference, and we begin to discuss music. John Polite (J.P.) was a Christian rapper at one point, a fact which he is now less than excited about. Now, when he gets to do musical stuff, he tends to do praise and worship stuff with a guitar. We visited about what kinds of music he likes. He shared that he enjoyed just about everything but country. I tried to change his mind. It was no use. He brought up that there were very few African-Americans that were country musicians. I thought about giving a brief history of how country music became a part of my musical background, but it was getting late and the moment was lost.

Today I was remembering this experience, and thinking about how we all have "soundtracks" of our lives. So in the next few days, I will be talking about different eras of my life, and the music that was important to me in each of them. In the process, I hope to think about how those musical memories are either reflective of my life, or influential in my life. I would love to hear your input.

Some Observations about the Kennedy Funerals

1. Perhaps what is most memorable, both before the weekend and during this weekend with the many documentaries is Teddy Kennedy's sheer resilence and determination. To endure what Ted Kennedy endured, to overcome the sins and failures he overcame, shows a remarkable power of his personhood. Whether you are liberal or conservative.

2. Ted Kennedy Jr. could very easily also become a politician after this weekend, if he so desired. From what I heard, I don't think he does.

3. As a Protestant, a westerner, and without a definitive ethnic identity other than Caucasian American, I found it fascinating to watch an New England Irish Catholic funeral. Many ways the same. Many ways so much different. Having a wake, a funeral, and a graveside seems like a lot. Both my grandmother and great-grandmother passed away a few years back. Neither really desired a funeral. Both were cremated. Great-grandma had a memorial a year after her death. Also interesting is how clear the Irish, Catholic, and northeastern connection is in the media. I felt like in many ways I was a voyer to a different culture. So interesting.

4. I thought it was interesting that at Senator's death, many news shows did not shy away from spiritual issues, but seem to be more open, honest, and transparent about them.

Still Small Voice

THE STILL SMALL VOICE

I Kings 19

 ¹ And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." ³ And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"
⁵ Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel^[a] touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat." ⁶ Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷ And the angel^[b] of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you." ⁸ So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
⁹ And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
¹⁰ So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."    
¹¹ Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
¹⁴ And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
¹⁵ Then the LORD said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸ Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."

 

 

 

 

It is interesting isn't it? Sometimes after our greatest triumphs, our greatest victories, that is when we are most discouraged. When we feel most defeated.

 

Certainly this was true of Elijah. Elijah had just been a part of a contest on Mount Carmel. There on Mount Carmel, in front of the whole nation, he had challenged the prophets of Baal to show who could call down fire from heaven. The Baal prophets were in the hundreds. Elijah was just one. The Baal prophets had went through incantation after incantation. They had cut themselves to appease the gods they believed they served. They were not successful.

 

Elijah drown his wood pile with water in front of the people. He knelt in prayer. Fire reigned down from heaven. Nearly every prophet of Baal in the land was executed. God had triumphed.

 

I think at this point, Elijah believed everything would be different. That the people, the nation, the king and queen would see that God was the only God, and that he was God's prophet and mouthpiece. I imagine Elijah slept well the night after Mount Carmel.

 

Then came the morning after that Mount Carmel incident. Ahab ran home and told Jezebel all Elijah had done. Jezebel took charge. She sent out a decree to have him killed as soon as possible.

 

Elijah decides to flee the country. He gets as far as the Southern Border and he gives the assistant his pink slip. He lays down in solitude and cries that he wants to die. And this is where we start recognizing a hint of self-centeredness in his holy work. He complains about not being any better than his fathers. Selfish. Elijah says that HE is doing everything alone. He is the only one faithful. He has defeated the prophets. He has stood against Israel. ME. ME. ME. God was patient with Elijah's pride and self-centeredness as he is with us.

 

Notice when God got Elijah's attention. It was when Elijah was away from the crowd. It was when Elijah was away from the commotion. When he was away from the news reports and the football games, the dinner parties and the state fair crowds full of people. When Elijah had wandered up into the barren land full of cactus and the mountains full of rocks and cliffs and caves, it is as that time when God spoke to Elijah.

 

The Lord speaks to Elijah. And the Lord tells him to go to mount Horeb, also known as mount Sinai. God tells Elijah to go there and wait for Him there. So Elijah eats this wonder bread from the desert and heads up to the mountain in the desert. He waits for forty days to hear God's voice again.

 

God invites Elijah to come to entrance of the cave he was staying at in the Mountain of God. That mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Mount Sinai. Elijah goes there. And stands at the entrance of a cave. And listens for God to speak.

 

A loud, violent wind comes through that cracks rocks and breaks tree limbs. But God was not in the wind. Then there was an earthquake. But God was not in the earthquake. Then there was a fire. God was not in the fire. Then their was a "still small voice" or other translators even translate it, "the sound of sheer silence". God was not in the fire. God was not in the wind. God was not in the quake. God was in the still small voice. The hushed whisper. Elijah had performed miracles. He had called down fire from heaven. He had boldly preached for God, and loudly stood for God when few others would. He was zealous, brash, and even violent for the cause of Christ. In the process, he mistook the power of God in his ministry for the presence of God in his life. And he was lost, lonely, and suicidal.

 

How often do we think God delights in our great sacrifices and feats of faith? Our accomplishments as family member, a leader in the community, a well-loved person at school, a good provider, a financial provider for those we love, a nurturer of children.

This is what Elijah needed to learn. God used his strength and boldness, his courage and tenacity. But God wanted Elijah to know him in the still small voice. God used Elijah's zeal and passion and blessed it. Elijah thought God was interested in what he did. The truth is God was interested in who Elijah chose to be. Elijah thought God was interested in accomplishment. He found God was interested in relationship. God spoke to Elijah in the still small voice. When he took the time to get alone with God, and when he was quiet enough to hear it.

 

The truth is, God is always speaking to His people in solitude and silence. God spoke to Moses as he was alone in the wilderness watching sheep. And when Moses received the Ten Commandments, he did not bring a crowd. God spoke to Samuel while everyone else was asleep and he was tending the flame in the temple. God spoke to David while he was out in the field. Perhaps that is why so many Psalms say things like "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him"(Psalm 37). "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46). The Bible teaches that Jesus withdrew to places where he could be alone. After his baptism, he went to be alone in the desert. Before he called the disciples he went off to quiet place. After he fed the multitudes, he wanted to be in a quiet, lonely place to be alone with God. Silence and solitude are essential to a healthy spiritual life. Perhaps that is why God often did and does speak to people during their dreams. It is when they were silent and he could have their full attention.

 

Throughout Christian history, believers have believed that silence and solitude are important for our spiritual health. Soon after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman government, people who wanted to experience more of God decided to retreat to the African desert, and build little shacks they called "cells". They would say, "Go to your cell, and it will teach you everything". Thomas a Kempis, in his classic devotional book The Imitation of Christ had a whole chapter on silence and solitude. Pascal said, "All unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay silently in their own room". Mother Teresa, great social activist of our time also spoke of the importance of silence when she said, "Silence leads to prayer. Prayer leads to faith. Faith leads to service. Service leads to peace".

 

 

Silence is hard for us though. So is solitude. Oh many of us are seniors and single and may spend time alone, but we turn on the television to keep us company. We play music to keep us occupied. We fiddle around on a thousand little projects to keep us from being silent and alone. We grab books and read them. We look for a thousand different little amusements to take up every waking moment of silence and solitude. If we are younger we have a thousand clubs and commitments to keep us occupied. We gets our kids to be certified members of the rat race by the time they are 12. And thus many of our kids learn to fear solitude and silence. It is a punishment when they get "time out", or when they get the silent treatment. Yet silence and solitude is where we start if we want to hear God. If we want to sense his leading. If we want to hear his voice, we need to get away to silent and solitary places. We need to carve out places where we can meet God, just us and him.

 

There are a few reasons why we need silence and solitude:

1. Silence and solitude allow us to quiet all of the other voices and noise that competes for our worship, and allows us to worship God alone.
   
2. Silence teaches us how powerless we are, and how much we need and depend on God. (Hilary of Tours described or penchant for business and noise as the blasphemous anxiety to do God's work for Him)
   
3. Silence and solitude allow us to hear God's call and voice, so that we can act with right action
   
4. Prayer in silence and solitude prepares us to have the right words for others when they need them. (Bonhoeffer said, let him who cannot be alone beware of community, let him who is not in community beware of being alone)
   
5. Silence teaches us God values us based on who we are in relationship with Him, not based on what we do or what skills we have.
   

 

Then the question becomes, how do I find a way to do times of silence or solitude in a prayerful way? Here are some pointers:

1. Find a place for silence and solitude. For some of you it can be on your front porch early in the morning. If you are like me, it might be somewhere in the house late at night. It may mean being like Scott and going off to a place where you can be alone with God for a while. For Scott Pittullo that is in dry, open spaces. For others of you it might be the city park, or the lake at the city park in La Junta. For some of you men that might be your garage even. If you are a busy parent, it might take more planning. Or to be really crass and yet really practical, it may mean hiding in the restroom for a short time. Or walking the dog when nobody else is out.
   
2. Find a time for silence and solitude. Try starting in small chunks at first. Five minutes of silence in the car on the way to work. Ten minutes in the morning where you can be alone before anyone gets up. Fifteen minutes at night after everyone goes to bed.
   
3. Be prepared to be uncomfortable. You have been programmed with noise and sound trying to sell you something for days and weeks and years. Allow God to speak into that discomfort.
   
4. Come to God with a specific question or concern. Then silence yourself before Him and ask him to speak to you through that silence
   
5. Integrate interruptions into your silent time. We are going to be silent for a few minutes soon. You will hear children crying. You will hear oxygen tanks clicking. You will hear cars driving by. Either ignore them, or let God to speak to you through the noise in your silence. Don't let the interruptions and clicks and clatters keep you from being silent.
   

So we are going to spend a few moments singing. Then we are going to take some time to sit silently before the Lord after some brief instructions. Then we are going to take a few moments to share.

Let us sing. And let our song be our prayer.

 

 

Pretty Butterfly in Back Yard

 

Mancave wall: College and High School

 

My wall

 

Looking over the couch

 

Mancave

 

The Bookshelves in back

 

Mancave Pic

 

Mancave 1

 

Servant Sayings Sermon Part 1

Servant Sayings #1—Who is the Greatest?

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.
²¹ And He said to her, "What do you wish?"
She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."
²² But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"^[a]
They said to Him, "We are able."
²³ So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;^[b] but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."
²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. ²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

Every time I read this passage, John and James lose a little respect in my eyes. They have a question. An important question. A question they have been waiting to ask for quite a while. But they are not man enough to ask it for themselves. So they send in their mommy do ask their hard questions for them. If I was Jesus, when I saw that the disciples had sent their mommy in to ask if they could be on his right or on his left, I would have said, "Not if you are not man enough to ask for what you want yourself. Which proves one very good point; it is a good thing that Jesus does not have ornery old me as his personal consultant.

 

Jesus has just finished sharing about his role as judge in the kingdom. Then he predicted his death, which the disciples are continually forgetting that he keeps mentioning. They want to be on Jesus' right and left hand when he comes into his kingdom. When he comes in power. When Jesus rules the world, James and John want to be the #1 and #2 assistants. They want to be Vice-President and Secretary of State in Jesus rule of the world. They want to have power. They want to have control. They want to have fame. They want to be seen and admired by the crowd, and they might even want to make a few others jealous, including the disciples.

 

The truth is this. They missed the point! They missed the point of what Jesus was trying to do, the kind of followers he was seeking, the kind of world he was trying to create. Sounds like the rest of the disciples did as well. Because as soon as they heard about the request of the mother of James and John they got irate. The New King James says "greatly displeased". The NIV says that they were "indignant".

 

Turns out Jesus had to mediate the conflict. So he used it as a teaching opportunity. He shared with them more about his kingdom. He said that the power of God was not like the power of the world, or more specifically here of the "Gentiles". The Gentiles try and claim power. They try and fight for it. They try and get authority, and then force people under them to do what they want them to do. Jesus said he had come for another reason.

 

Jesus came to create a community of servants. He told the disciples that the greatest among them must be the servant of all. Whoever wants to be the greatest in the kingdom of God must put himself in the position of a slave, or a bondservant.

 

Jesus says that his life should be an example of this. He came not to be served, but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

The truth is, not only do the disciples miss the point. Often we miss the point as well. If we are called to follow Jesus, if we have chosen to live our lives as his disciples, or apprentices, we must become servants. We must serve one another. Just as important, we must serve those in the world around us.

 

Often the contemporary church misses the point in this regard. They think the church is about having a perfect little worship band with a pending recording contract. They believe that they should a pastor that everyone can be proud of and look up to. They believe that a good church has a building that can be seen and admired for its beauty. That a church should be full of respected members with deep pockets. Thank God we here at First Baptist are not a contemporary church in that way. We are church of substance, not of image over substance.

 

Jesus says that the way of greatness in the kingdom is through being servants. As we look forward to next month, I want to commend you for choosing to be a church that serves it community through the Backyard Mission Project. There is no greater witness to the world, I believe, than being a church that serves with grace, and without a sense of self-righteousness and judgment.

 

Friends, I know you have servant hearts. Even the most ornery of you has told me of your compassion for a friend and neighbor, and how you long to help them.These acts of service, this heart of service, is something beautiful. It is a beautiful witness of Christ's love to the world, YES. It is a beautiful stand against the greediness and selfishness in the world around us, YES. Because it will make us great in the kingdom? That too.

 

First and foremost though, choosing to be a servant and a servant-church in our community is important because it is an act of worship, a way of being like Jesus and praising Him, of honoring the one who loved the world enough to come to earth and die for it, and make his life a ransom for many.

Servant Sayings Sermon Part 2

Servant Sayings #2—THE GOOD NEIGHBOR

²⁵ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
²⁶ He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"
²⁷ So he answered and said, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,'^[h] and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"^[i]
28 And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."
²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, when he departed,^[j] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' ³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
³⁷ And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

 

It is not as easy to know your neighbors as well as you would like to. Even in a place like Fowler. You tend to run in the same streams of people day after day. You tend to get into a routine, and forget to get to know the person across the street, down the road, or that new person that you should introduce yourself to that moved into town. Even in a small town like this.

On the other hand, you tend to run into neighbors in the strangest places. The other day we were celebrating my birthday a little late by going out to eat and taking the little boat ride along the riverwalk in pueblo. I was meandering back to my car with mom walking across Union Avenue. All of the sudden a police offer whipped around and turned on his lights. He started talking to us about jaywalking across the street. I thought the voice sounded a little familiar. Then I knew who it was. Jason Smith in his police car swung around to say hello, harass me, and give me a hard time. You always see your neighbors when you least expect them.

When I would come back and forth from college over Christmas or the summer, I would always see someone in the airport from the high school I went to or someone I competed against in sports in either Minneapolis or in Seattle. Sometimes I would even see someone I went to church with in high school.

I don't blame this guy who asked Jesus who his neighbor is. I am amazed at Jesus' response.

The man asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is. Jesus, after fussing a little, says that answer is of course to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And then to love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe further quizzes Jesus. "Who then," he asks, "Is my neighbor?".

When we are supposed to love our neighbor, does that mean the guy down the street? Does that mean the folks in and around Fowler? The Arkansas Valley? United States? North America? Where is the beginning and the end to loving this neighbor that Jesus is talking about?

He talks about this Samaritan. People from Samaria were people who were not liked by Jewish folks. They were, in fact, hated by other Jews. Samaritans were the groups of Hebrews who chose to intermarry with Gentiles, and compromise instead of being dragged off into slavery. They tried to set up this hybrid version of Christianity. Created their own temples and rituals. They were people who sold out their people and their faith in a faithful Jew's mind, and the more religious you were, the more you hated Samaritans.

So this average guy got beat up and left for dead in a ditch. And the preacher came by, and saw him in the ditch, and got to the other side of the road and got away as soon as possible. Then the chair of the deacon board came by, saw the man, and got as far away from him as possible. Who knew what danger lurked near? Who knew who could hurt the poor guy? Then this Samaritan came by. And he put his bloody body in the back seat of his car. And he got him to the Emergency Room. Then he made arrangements to pay the poor guys ER and rehab bills as he recovered from his life-threatening assault. Jesus asked which of the men was a neighbor to the injured man. Of course the Samaritan was.

Our neighbor, then, is not the people we like to hang out with. It is not just the person across the street. It is the person who we run into who needs our kindness, love, and support. A good neighbor is the kind of person who helps the people they run into with things that needs help with. It is the kind of person who makes sacrifices to assist the people they run into, and the people they have the opportunity to serve. Whether they like them or not. Whether or not they deserve the help. A good neighbor helps those who need their support and assistance. They do that because Jesus commanded it. At the core of what Jesus asks us to do is to be good neighbors.

Our backyard mission project should have been named the good neighbor project. I feel we are a church full of good neighbors that help one another, even at person cost. Even when we have been angry at one another a day or a week or a month before.

In our last thought, we remembered that we pursue greatness when we take the place of service. We serve because we want to be like Jesus.

We also serve because we want to love our neighbor as ourselves. And the best way to love our neighbors in by getting in a habit of serving them in visible and practical ways.

Part of what I am hoping comes out of our backyard mission project, is that we develop a group of men that are willing to gather at least once a month, have a little bit of breakfast, maybe a short devotion, and then go out and continue with what we are starting this September. Continue serving in our community with little small needs the way we started this year. We won't be able to do large scale stuff as much, but we could get several guys to do something. Something to follow the call of being good neighbors TOGETHER as a church in our community.

SERVANT SAYINGS SERMON PART 3

SERVANT SAYINGS #3—EXPERIENCING JESUS

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy^[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
³⁷ "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
⁴¹ "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'
⁴⁴ "Then they also will answer Him,^[d] saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' ⁴⁶ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Many of us are familiar with this story. This parable that Jesus taught. It is the end of time. Christ comes as judge. And when he comes as judge he separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep go to the right, and the goats to his left. He starts by telling the sheep that they will inherit the kingdom because they fed Jesus when he was hungry, gave him a drink when he was cold, gave him a place to stay when he was a stranger, gave him clothes when he was naked, visited him when he was sick, and came to Him when he was in prison. When did we do this, they asked. Jesus said when they did it for the least of these they did it for Him.

 

In other words, when you help those in need, when you reach out to those that are vulnerable, when you choose to love those most ignored, it may appear you are loving others, but you are in truth demonstrating your love for Christ and his kingdom.

 

The opposite fate awaits the goats. They ignored those in need. They didn't pay attention to the opportunities to serve others. And Jesus told these people that they missed HIM. They ignored HIM. They failed to serve HIM, because they missed their opportunities to love their neighbor.

 

If you don't think serving our neighbors is serious business, you need to pay attention to what is going on here! Reaching outside the four walls of the church and choosing to serve our neighbors with their physical needs is central to what it means to trust Jesus. You can see that it is so central to what it means to trust Jesus, that our ability to live this truth is mentioned in the context of God's judgment. That is something to think about.

 

But I want you to pay attention to something else here. When we reach out and serve, when we reach out in compassion to those who are in need, when we are good neighbors to those in our community, well, that is when Jesus shows up. You want to experience Christ, start reaching out and serving. You wonder if God's presence in a living and active witness in your life? Well, get out and help somebody who is having a hard time or who needs your help. You wonder why God seems distant? Maybe it is because you sit around and feel sorry for yourself, think about what you want or what you need and don't have, and then wonder why God seems far away. Get out and choose to serve. You will feel the presence of God. You will hear his voice. You will experience his presence.

 

That is what this passage promises isn't it? When we roll up our sleeves and serve our neighbors in the name of Jesus, we will at that moment be serving Jesus and loving Jesus, even as we love other people.

 

So we are going to be a church that serves. We are going to serve each other, because that is what brothers and sisters do in the body of Christ. But we are going to also serve those in our community, because we want to do what Jesus commands. We know we are more like Jesus when we reach out and serve in Jesus name. We know that we the kind of neighbor Jesus calls us to be when we serve others in Jesus name. And we know that we experience Jesus' presence when we reach out and give of ourselves as the hands and feet of Jesus.

 

Some churches witness with their words. Some churches witness in their worship. Starting in September we give you the opportunity to witness through serving your neighbor. To proclaim God's good news through simple acts of kindness. And to be part of a church-wide effort that is doing so.

 

Like good soldiers in reserve, you are being called into service. Our cause is right. Our plan is good. Our master is leading us to charge forward. I pray that we will march TOGETHER, standing TOGETHER and working together to carry out the MISSION we have agreed to carry out in front of us. EVERYONE has a part to play, a way to give to the cause. LET US SERVE TOGETHER. LET US SERVE TOGETHER IN JESUS NAME. AMEN.

One of the hardest things about preaching is....

narrowing down all of the really cool things you have learned into one short sermon on a passage. At some point, you have to edit out what is important for people to know and what is less important for people to know. But deep down, you really want everyone to know and enjoy all of the little details and intricacies of a passage you are preaching. And to enjoy them. But that would bore everyone and take over an hour.

I keep thinking of the movie "A River Runs Through It" when the boys come into their father's study with their writing assignment in hand. And their father places several red marks through their writing. Good. Now half as long. And then they were off to write some more.

A lot of times, preaching feels like this. Just thinking....