As I sit here in my office with a space heater warming me as I see snow falling outside my window, I can't help but think, "Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me! It is suppose to be spring, not winter the sequel! AAAAHHHH!" You may say I am overreacting, but to a guy who struggles with seasonal depression, it is no joke. I want sunshine! I need sunshine! Come on, Spring, don't let me down! Well, now that I have gotten that out of my system, let me use my whining for something productive.
Lent is a season that asks us to stare in the face of our Springtime that will not come. Have you ever felt stuck in a winter? May be you are there right now. Stuck in a winter is...the teenager that feels very much alone, but who is also too shy to take the step that is required to make friends...Its the couple waiting and praying that this month they will discover they are pregnant...its the woman who is begging God for her husband to become hungry for God...its trying to force yourself to pound the pavement another day when yesterday was full of rejections...Stuck in a winter feels cold, long, tiring, frustrating, gloomy, hopeless...what words would you use to describe how it feels to be stuck in a winter?
I keep seeing Mel Gibson's portrayal of the Passion of Christ in my mind's eye. Jesus' back torn open, flesh mangled, blood splattering. The soldiers mock him and spit in his face. The long walk to the place of his crscifixion as the cross burdens his shoulders. The nails pounded in his writsts and feet. The hours of struggling to breath on the cross as those he came to love hurl insults at him one last time. It only lasted hours, but the depth and length of that winter cannot be denied as we hear our Savior cry out in winter's agony, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"
Winter is dark...it is evil...it is painful...it breaks one's heart...it crushes one's mind...it smothers one's spirit...flowers don't bloom in the winter...grass does not grow in the winter...winter is a time when things die. Have you ever been stuck in a winter?
What do you do when you find yourself stuck in a winter? Before you give your answer, will you let Jesus give his?
What is all the blood and gore of the crucifixion about? Is it it about Jesus love? Yes. Is it about his mercy? Yes. Is it about his suffering with us? Yes. But it is also about something more...it is about something we all need when we find ourselves stuck in a winter. This something we need for winter is not glamorous or appealing, but it is the only way to get to spring. Jesus in his humanness shows us how to walk through a long, cold winter in our humanness. The blood and gore of the crucifixion is about perseverance.
Friends, it still may be cold, gray and snowy outside, but be that as it may, Spring is coming! Warmer, brighter days lie ahead! Winter can kill a lot, but it can't stop Spring's new life!
Lent is a season of facing our "stuck in a winter" places and leaning into the hard, but, o, so hopeful lesson of perseverance. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" James 1:2-4.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
"Themes of Lent: Obedience"
We have signed up to take our dog to obedience school. On the application form the question was asked, "Are there any particular problems you hope to see addressed in obedience school?" I wrote, "Biting and poops in dinning room." I get the biting--I mean, I suppose (though I have never had a dog before, so I may be I am assuming wrong) that all puppy's like to bite and chew--but I do not get the pooping in the dining room. It is the weirdest thing, the puppy goes to the door to tell us he needs to potty, but if he gets any where near the Dinning room its as though pooping becomes involuntary. I am very curious to see what obedience school has to teach us about dining room pooping.
I can say that I think the $80 bucks we are paying is every bit worth learning how to train your dog in obedience. Like, I said, this whole dog thing is new to me (By the way, I really do not want to receive 100 emails telling me dog raising tips; I'll save that energy for obedience school :-). But I know enough to know I want an obedient dog. How nice to have something called obedience school. Heck, I'm even open to seeing if what I learn for my dog applies to my kids :-)! Of course, God could say the same thing about me--I too could use obedience school.
One thing is for sure, the reason me, my kids and my dog need obedience school is because obedience does not come to us naturally. Disobedience...doing what I want, my way...now that comes as naturally as breathing; but obedience, well, that seems as foreign as breathing under water. However, maturity is about accepting that obedience does not withhold the good life from us, but opens us to the good life. I tell my kids all the time, "When you listen to me and your mom, life is a lot more fun." No sooner do I tell my kids that, then I open the Bible and hear Jesus telling me the same thing. We read it on Sunday in John 15:10-11, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Obedience is not God's kill joy, it is God's invitation to having your joy made complete.
However, the truth still remains that obedience is not natural. Obedience must be learned. The problem is there is obedience school for dogs, but not for us. On second thought, that is not true. The Bible explains there is an obedience school that we are invited to allow God to enroll us in.
Look at Hebrews 12: 7-11: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No 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."
The word discipline does not mean punishment, but all that goes into raising a child to be healthy. We are invited to "endure hardship" as our obedience school. In other words, rather than let the hardships of life come and go with out any lasting benefit, learn to let God train you in and through hard times. No one says that is easy, but the harvest it produces is worth it.
Well, our dog, Butterball, is signed up for obedience school regardless of whether or not he wants to be enrolled. God, on the other hand, will not require any one to sign up for obedience school. He leaves that up to you and me?
I can say that I think the $80 bucks we are paying is every bit worth learning how to train your dog in obedience. Like, I said, this whole dog thing is new to me (By the way, I really do not want to receive 100 emails telling me dog raising tips; I'll save that energy for obedience school :-). But I know enough to know I want an obedient dog. How nice to have something called obedience school. Heck, I'm even open to seeing if what I learn for my dog applies to my kids :-)! Of course, God could say the same thing about me--I too could use obedience school.
One thing is for sure, the reason me, my kids and my dog need obedience school is because obedience does not come to us naturally. Disobedience...doing what I want, my way...now that comes as naturally as breathing; but obedience, well, that seems as foreign as breathing under water. However, maturity is about accepting that obedience does not withhold the good life from us, but opens us to the good life. I tell my kids all the time, "When you listen to me and your mom, life is a lot more fun." No sooner do I tell my kids that, then I open the Bible and hear Jesus telling me the same thing. We read it on Sunday in John 15:10-11, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Obedience is not God's kill joy, it is God's invitation to having your joy made complete.
However, the truth still remains that obedience is not natural. Obedience must be learned. The problem is there is obedience school for dogs, but not for us. On second thought, that is not true. The Bible explains there is an obedience school that we are invited to allow God to enroll us in.
Look at Hebrews 12: 7-11: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No 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."
The word discipline does not mean punishment, but all that goes into raising a child to be healthy. We are invited to "endure hardship" as our obedience school. In other words, rather than let the hardships of life come and go with out any lasting benefit, learn to let God train you in and through hard times. No one says that is easy, but the harvest it produces is worth it.
Well, our dog, Butterball, is signed up for obedience school regardless of whether or not he wants to be enrolled. God, on the other hand, will not require any one to sign up for obedience school. He leaves that up to you and me?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
"Themes of Lent: Sacrifice"
The couple I have in mind are here every Sunday at the 11 AM worship experience. The only time they miss is when they are out of town. Then, every week, they sneak into the building and make their way to the Food 2 Go room to stock the shelves and take inventory. In spite of their faithfulness, they are not known by many people. It is not because they do not have warm personalities, but simply because they have the personality type that is quite content not being noticed. However, I cannot help but notice them because yesterday they taught me a lesson on a theme of Lent I would just as soon forget. Yet Jesus make sit clear that this lesson is par for the course in following him. The couple taught me a lesson on sacrifice.
Jesus said, "If any one would come after me he/she must deny him/herself and take up his/her cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:24 & 25). Let's be honest...we want to follow Jesus, but we don't want to make the sacrifice. But Jesus is honest when he says that no following of Him happens without sacrifice.
To follow Jesus means we will let him show us what of ourselves must be set aside. What of you is Jesus asking you to deny? I don't know about you but regularly, Jesus is showing me that I need to deny myself of my comfort zone, convenience, my time, my money, my personal preferences, my right to be angry, my permission to be negative (I can be really good at that)...the point is, to follow Jesus means sacrifice--small or big. Of course, verse 25 reminds us to keep the sacrifice in context of the promise. Those who loose for him...well, they don't loose...they gain...they gain more than all they could have ever held onto in this life time or the next. Those who lose for Jesus gain life...life to the full now and forever!
That takes me back to the couple in our church family. You see the wife has one kidney that has stopped functioning and another that is failing. She has a portion of her brain that has stopped working and the doctors cannot explain why, but it does explain why her neck involuntarily and painfully turns to the left. She talked about how challenging that makes it for her to read the Bible every morning. On top of that her blood count is off which has the doctors concerned of other, to this point, undiagnosed illnesses. And as if that is not enough, she has severe chronic pain caused by inflammation of her joints. Because of her kidney condition the only over the counter relief she can take is Tylenol. All the while, her husband watches her go through this every day, stands by her side, supports her, encourages her and yet carries the burden of not being able to fix this for her.
And what are they doing? They are gathering with other believers for worship every Sunday? Do you think she feels like being here very Sunday? Don't you think it would be easier for both of them to stay at home? Would anyone blame them? I wouldn't. Believe me, I know plenty of other folks that consider corporate worship an option they can only choose if all the planets in the universe are in perfect alignment. So, why is this couple with legitimate excuse here to worship with other believers every Sunday? The Bible calls it a "sacrifice of praise" in Hebrews 13:15. It is sacrifice that the Bible says God honors in delight. God forgive us for being tempted to make our time of set aside worship together as something that is only important if it is convenient and if it serves our preferences and needs. A sacrifice of praise is beautiful to heaven.
But this couple does not just make a sacrifice of praise on Sunday, they live out the rest of the verse. Hebrews 13:15-16 reads, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
This couple could very easily say, "Well, we made it to worship on Sunday. There... we did our part. God understands our physical problems. We'll let the healthy serve others." We might think that for them or for ourselves, but they do not think that. You see, they understand that to follow Jesus involves sacrifice. And the sacrifice that makes God smile is when we "do good and share with others." Every week, they make their way to the Food 2 Go room to do good and share with children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends in our community. Not only to do they do what God has called them to do to help hungry children, but they do it with a smile and an attitude of joy.
So, I want to thank James and Diane Van Nest and all of you who week after week make a sacrifice of praise as you gather for corporate worship on Sunday and then make what you do on Sunday matter by making a sacrifice of doing good and sharing with others. I hope you never forget the words of Jesus, which are his promise to you as you deny yourself: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Sacrifice will only cost you, but when done for the sake of Christ, it will always gain you a life worth living! Thank you for your sacrifices of time, talent and treasure!
By the way, wouldn't it be great if we showered James and Diane with cards of encouragements this week? Whether you know them or not, why not send them a card? Their address is:
Van Nest
658 Loxwood
Centerville, OH 45458
Jesus said, "If any one would come after me he/she must deny him/herself and take up his/her cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:24 & 25). Let's be honest...we want to follow Jesus, but we don't want to make the sacrifice. But Jesus is honest when he says that no following of Him happens without sacrifice.
To follow Jesus means we will let him show us what of ourselves must be set aside. What of you is Jesus asking you to deny? I don't know about you but regularly, Jesus is showing me that I need to deny myself of my comfort zone, convenience, my time, my money, my personal preferences, my right to be angry, my permission to be negative (I can be really good at that)...the point is, to follow Jesus means sacrifice--small or big. Of course, verse 25 reminds us to keep the sacrifice in context of the promise. Those who loose for him...well, they don't loose...they gain...they gain more than all they could have ever held onto in this life time or the next. Those who lose for Jesus gain life...life to the full now and forever!
That takes me back to the couple in our church family. You see the wife has one kidney that has stopped functioning and another that is failing. She has a portion of her brain that has stopped working and the doctors cannot explain why, but it does explain why her neck involuntarily and painfully turns to the left. She talked about how challenging that makes it for her to read the Bible every morning. On top of that her blood count is off which has the doctors concerned of other, to this point, undiagnosed illnesses. And as if that is not enough, she has severe chronic pain caused by inflammation of her joints. Because of her kidney condition the only over the counter relief she can take is Tylenol. All the while, her husband watches her go through this every day, stands by her side, supports her, encourages her and yet carries the burden of not being able to fix this for her.
And what are they doing? They are gathering with other believers for worship every Sunday? Do you think she feels like being here very Sunday? Don't you think it would be easier for both of them to stay at home? Would anyone blame them? I wouldn't. Believe me, I know plenty of other folks that consider corporate worship an option they can only choose if all the planets in the universe are in perfect alignment. So, why is this couple with legitimate excuse here to worship with other believers every Sunday? The Bible calls it a "sacrifice of praise" in Hebrews 13:15. It is sacrifice that the Bible says God honors in delight. God forgive us for being tempted to make our time of set aside worship together as something that is only important if it is convenient and if it serves our preferences and needs. A sacrifice of praise is beautiful to heaven.
But this couple does not just make a sacrifice of praise on Sunday, they live out the rest of the verse. Hebrews 13:15-16 reads, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
This couple could very easily say, "Well, we made it to worship on Sunday. There... we did our part. God understands our physical problems. We'll let the healthy serve others." We might think that for them or for ourselves, but they do not think that. You see, they understand that to follow Jesus involves sacrifice. And the sacrifice that makes God smile is when we "do good and share with others." Every week, they make their way to the Food 2 Go room to do good and share with children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends in our community. Not only to do they do what God has called them to do to help hungry children, but they do it with a smile and an attitude of joy.
So, I want to thank James and Diane Van Nest and all of you who week after week make a sacrifice of praise as you gather for corporate worship on Sunday and then make what you do on Sunday matter by making a sacrifice of doing good and sharing with others. I hope you never forget the words of Jesus, which are his promise to you as you deny yourself: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Sacrifice will only cost you, but when done for the sake of Christ, it will always gain you a life worth living! Thank you for your sacrifices of time, talent and treasure!
By the way, wouldn't it be great if we showered James and Diane with cards of encouragements this week? Whether you know them or not, why not send them a card? Their address is:
Van Nest
658 Loxwood
Centerville, OH 45458
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
"Themes of Lent: Commitment"
On Monday night our Pastoral Staff went to a District communion service for pastors and spouses. Our District Superintendent shared. One of the questions that he asked keeps ringing in my ears: "Are you willing to die where you are?"
I don't know if there could be a more relevant question in our present, American culture: "Are you willing to die where you are?" We are a culture that values keeping our options open. We are experts in seeing greener grass everywhere but where we are. We consider it normal to move homes and jobs every 3-5 years. One might argue we consider that same time frame to be normal for our friendships, marriages and church commitments. We are so immersed in the culture of looking for a better option that we don't even think about the option of simply living and dieing where we are.
However, one of the themes of the Lenten season (40 days of preparation for Easter)is commitment. In other words, Lent challenges us to ask the question, "Are you willing to die where you are?" Are you willing to surrender your options? Are you willing to stop looking for greener grass and start depending on God to show you how to be content with the yellow patch of grass you are standing on? Are you wiling to stand against the stream as one person who does what he or she says while others give no thought to being swept up and away in broken promises? Does your spouse know you will be there no matter what? Do your children see you living out what you say or have they learned you say lots of things and do little of them? Does your employer know that every day you will give an honest and full days work? When you volunteer, do you follow through or leave others to try to follow through for you? Are you a follower of Christ that is on fire one minute and as cold as a cucumber the next? This is one of the questions of Lent: Are you willing to die where you are?
One day Jesus was teaching about how he was the Bread of life as it is recorded in John 6. He was making the point that until a person learns to become dependent on and find fulfillment in Christ, regardless of what he or she has or does not have in this life, he or she will never be fulfilled. The Bible says, "Many of the disciples of Jesus (Jesus originally had more than 12) heard this and said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" At that moment it is recorded that many who had been following Jesus walked away from him. They turned their backs on him and went their own way. Jesus then turned to the remaining twelve and asked, "Will you leave me, too?" Peter spoke up saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" We can poke fun at out-spoken Peter as much as we want, but that ol' boy got it. He got that following Jesus takes commitment. And commitment is not about will power. It is about surrendering all our other options to Jesus until day by day, year by year, Jesus is our only option. It is amazing how much easier it is to stay on course with what matters in life and death when you have developed the attitude of Peter that looks at the options of the world and says, "To whom shall I go?"
What could happen if for just this first week of Lent we evaluated our commitments? What would happen if we took all our commitments to Jesus this week and said, "Lord, if you were my only option what would that say about my commitments? What commitments do I need to break to make Jesus my only option? What commitments do I need to keep, even though I wish I had never made them, so that I might have Jesus as the option that I know will fill me now and forever? Lord, what do you want me to hear, see or know this week about this question, "Am I willing to die where I am?"
Let this question prepare you and draw you to gather with our church family from Living Hope and other Synergy Network churches for the Ah Wednesday service tonight, 7 PM at Living Hope.
I don't know if there could be a more relevant question in our present, American culture: "Are you willing to die where you are?" We are a culture that values keeping our options open. We are experts in seeing greener grass everywhere but where we are. We consider it normal to move homes and jobs every 3-5 years. One might argue we consider that same time frame to be normal for our friendships, marriages and church commitments. We are so immersed in the culture of looking for a better option that we don't even think about the option of simply living and dieing where we are.
However, one of the themes of the Lenten season (40 days of preparation for Easter)is commitment. In other words, Lent challenges us to ask the question, "Are you willing to die where you are?" Are you willing to surrender your options? Are you willing to stop looking for greener grass and start depending on God to show you how to be content with the yellow patch of grass you are standing on? Are you wiling to stand against the stream as one person who does what he or she says while others give no thought to being swept up and away in broken promises? Does your spouse know you will be there no matter what? Do your children see you living out what you say or have they learned you say lots of things and do little of them? Does your employer know that every day you will give an honest and full days work? When you volunteer, do you follow through or leave others to try to follow through for you? Are you a follower of Christ that is on fire one minute and as cold as a cucumber the next? This is one of the questions of Lent: Are you willing to die where you are?
One day Jesus was teaching about how he was the Bread of life as it is recorded in John 6. He was making the point that until a person learns to become dependent on and find fulfillment in Christ, regardless of what he or she has or does not have in this life, he or she will never be fulfilled. The Bible says, "Many of the disciples of Jesus (Jesus originally had more than 12) heard this and said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" At that moment it is recorded that many who had been following Jesus walked away from him. They turned their backs on him and went their own way. Jesus then turned to the remaining twelve and asked, "Will you leave me, too?" Peter spoke up saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" We can poke fun at out-spoken Peter as much as we want, but that ol' boy got it. He got that following Jesus takes commitment. And commitment is not about will power. It is about surrendering all our other options to Jesus until day by day, year by year, Jesus is our only option. It is amazing how much easier it is to stay on course with what matters in life and death when you have developed the attitude of Peter that looks at the options of the world and says, "To whom shall I go?"
What could happen if for just this first week of Lent we evaluated our commitments? What would happen if we took all our commitments to Jesus this week and said, "Lord, if you were my only option what would that say about my commitments? What commitments do I need to break to make Jesus my only option? What commitments do I need to keep, even though I wish I had never made them, so that I might have Jesus as the option that I know will fill me now and forever? Lord, what do you want me to hear, see or know this week about this question, "Am I willing to die where I am?"
Let this question prepare you and draw you to gather with our church family from Living Hope and other Synergy Network churches for the Ah Wednesday service tonight, 7 PM at Living Hope.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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