"A Wee Little Man Was He"

"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree for Jesus for him to see.  Jesus said,'Zacchaeus, come down!  For today you will eat with me.'"

I can remember that childhood Sunday school song.  Each time we would sing it I could see this little guy, climbing a tree thinking he was going unnoticed, just to be called out by Jesus.  Like the song, the Bible's account of Zacchaeus ends as quickly as it begins.  We do not hear of this wee little man ever again and yet over 2000 years later his story is heard every time someone reads Luke 19:1-9.  (Before I share anything else, I want to ask if you would please read the account of Jesus encounter with Zacchaeus in preparation for Sunday.  See if you can figure out what the story has to do with the toxic sin called sloth).

Luke tells us Jesus encounters Z. right before Palm Sunday.  Jesus is headed to Jerusalem to face death and along the way he sees Z. in a tree.  He calls him down and invites himself to his house.  Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to save the word and yet he had time to see a man that others would not step aside to let him see Jesus.  Jesus ignored the prejudices of the day and referred to him by name not as a chief tax collector, which was a position the Jewsih people despised because tax collectors, including Z., worked for the oppressing government and took money for themselves. Jesus was not saying what people like Z. did was right, but that did not stop Jesus from seeing the man behind the sin.  How are you and I doing with that one? 

Then Jesus, who had plenty of more important things to do--like saving the world--makes time to spend time with him in his house.  Eating with someone in their house was a cultural sign of bonding in friendship.  Z. was not just a tax collector sinner, but now he was being invited to be Jesus' friend.  That is encouraging and convicting.  It is encouraging to know that Jesus befriends sinners and it is convicting to know that Jesus asks us to do the same.  The longer we are Followers of Christ, the more the temptation will be to surround ourselves with other believers to the point that we isolate ourselves from those who do not know Christ.  Jesus shows us that itself is a sin.  If we cannot name one person you have a personal friendship with who is not a Follower of Christ, it is time to pop our Christian bubble and quit pretending we are living for Jesus. We might as well be among those who talked behind Jesus back and said, "Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner."

It is easy to say I am a friend of Jesus, but it is anotehr thing to let Jesus friendship lay claims on my life.  Z. has one meal with Jesus and he then says, "Look , Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything I will pay back four times the amount."  Wow!  Praise God!  This is what it means to be a friend of Jesus!  To be his friend means we let him change us.  The extent to which I believe in Jesus is shown through the extent to which I let him change me.  So, how much do you and I believe in Jesus? 

The last several weeks we have witnessed several people be befriended by Jesus and let him begin to change their lives.  Praise God!  Perhaps, even now, Jesus is inviting you to allow you to be changed by him.  I invite you, just as I and many others have done, to consider some of these opportunities through which Jesus is bringing lasting change in people's lives:


Are you dealing with something that is toxic in your life…a relationship…a habit…a sin…a hurt…a fear…anger?  We invite you to consider experiencing the healing and freedom God has for you through one of these options available to you:  Celebrate Recovery (A Christ-centered recovery ministry for any kind of hurt, habit or hang-up), Prayer Ministry for Inner Healing (intercessory prayer led by a trained facilitator through which lies are exchanged for truth), Divorce Care (for any one who is going through or has gone through a divorce), Freedom from Anger for Women ( a one-on-one study for women), Miami Valley Pastoral Counseling Center (Professional counseling for LH Members for only half of the out of pocket expense).  To learn more make a note on your information card or go to www.elivinghope.com.

On Sunday we said, "Take greed to the cross and let Jesus detach who you are from what you do or do not have."  It is one thing to preach it on Sunday and another thing to live it on Monday. 

Monday evening I walked down to our basement to discover somewhere between Sunday night and then our sump pump had quit.  O, yes, it was wonderful! 

The company extracting the water said, "Wow!  This is the most water we have ever extracted from a house whose sump pump quit working just the night before." 
"Well, thank you sir," I thought to myself, "Where do I pick up my prize?"

When I first saw the water, I thought, "O, no, what a mess!"  But then I heard God whisper, "Aren't you glad who you are is not attached to what you have?"  

"OK…OK…Lord, I get it, but, Lord, how do I live it?"

Immediately God brought two things to my mind that pretty much apply to every sump pump failure surprise of life:  Perspective and gratitude. 

On my way up the steps to share the news with Kimberly, I began to gain perspective...you see, I know a lot of families and individuals who wish a basement flood was the worst thing they had to deal with. As I was cleaning up the mess, I kept thinking of folks I know who are really struggling.  I thought about families who have a loved one fighting cancer. I thought about a family who just had the funeral of their 15 year old niece. I thought of single mom who has left behind her old life and is now learning to trust God one day at a time in her new life and it is anything but easy.  I thought of a man who has been out of work for two years. I thought of the reality that 30,000 children died from starvation while my basement was flooded.  I thought of 27 million people in the US and around the world who are held captive to human trafficking.   
Pretty soon, I was not just thinking about these people in need, I was praying for them.  I admit, like some of you perhaps, I struggle to maintain perspective some times, especially when basements get flooded.  But, God is faithful and he is always present and willing to turn our perspective to him and others if we will let him.  And his perspective on things changes everything.

The next day as I wrote in my prayer journal and I began to thank God for all he gave me during this unexpected hassle. Kimberly and I have not fought through this, but simply worked together, talked and even laughed as we cleaned out the basement.  What a gift!  (You know a few years ago, I would have been a bear to deal with this and would have made it hard on her. Friends, if God can change me, he can change any body.)  I began to thank God for a wife who is not all wrapped up in material things.  I thanked God for a trustworthy company to do the water mitigation. I thanked God for my dad who, though he did not give me his fix-it genes, volunteered to help me install a new sump pump.  I thanked God for knowing our needs before we know what they are--just last week Kimberly received a bonus check from work which ended up taking care of our deductible.  And get this I have a whole lot more to be thankful for than what has to do with our basement.  

Perspective and gratitude are gifts from God that loosen the grip of greed in our lives.  What does God use to detach who you are from what you do or do not have in your life?  I would value hearing your story. 

Washing Feet

On Sunday we closed by looking at John 13 in which Jesus washed the dirty feet of the disciples during their last meal together before his crucifixion.  At the end we asked, "What if Jesus is showing us the best way to receive God's unconditional love is to give it away to others?"  This question is made even more powerful when we realize that one of the people whose feet Jesus washed was Judas his betrayer.  We then received the challenge: Will we wash some one's feet this week?

On Sunday, during communion, I told God I was willing to wash the feet of anyone He led me to this week.  On Monday I received the news of some one's plan to try to hurt me.  I was hurt and I was mad.  That evening during my walk, I began to really talk to God about the situation.  I knew God was at work in me, but I was not yet free.

The next morning I woke up and began to do what I do every morning.  When I first wake up, I lay in the bed and I give God thanks.  But that morning my thanks was cut short with the name of my "Judas."  I prayed, "Lord, what do I do about this?"  Then it was clear that this is the person whose feet he wants me to wash this week. "But how do you wash some one's feet who won't even talk to you?"  I prayed.  The response was clear, "You pray and forgive."

I began that moment the washing process.  To be honest...at first it stunk. But by the end of the day I was feeling free.  Then this morning I woke up and began to thank God and suddenly I realized the hurt and anger I felt toward my "Judas" was gone.  I am free. Now I can wash his feet by simply praying for him.  And today it does not even stink.

It makes me wonder about a good question I heard asked many years ago:  What if God can even use a Judas for good in our lives?

I don't know what you think of that, but I believe that God can.  God has done that in my life even this week 

What about you?  Do you have a story of how God has called you to wash some one's feet this week?  I would love to hear your story.  Thanks for listening to mine. 

Choices

Our kids are at an age where we talk a lot about choices.  Sometimes a day sounds like this...

"Seth, when you choose to jump off the furniture into the table you will get hurt."

"Anna, when you choose to live like a tornado has hit your room, then it takes a long time to clean it." 

"Seth, when you choose to put your dishes in the sink we thank you."

"Anna, when you choose to do your homework first, then you have more time to play later." 

Choices...our days, our years, our lives, our eternities are all determined by choices.  By themselves our choices are as small as jumping off furniture or cleaning our room, put string them all together and our little choices are patterns that set our priorities.  

My grandma use to say to me, "Chad, people do what they want to do."  She was right. If I want to be real, I will be no matter what fear tells me may or may not happen if I confess my sins to other believers as James 5:16 says.  If I want to be connected so I can experience transformation then I will not just come to worship and be involved in a small group, but I will participate while I am there.  If I want be poured out then I will give of my time and money in response to the needs of others.  Its all about choices.  Let's face it, I and you, do what we want to do.

So, what does what you do say about what you want...what you value...what you need?  As we talked on Sunday, even what we choose to put in our mouth can reveal if we are putting our trust in Christ or in some pleasure we consume. 

As I said last week, this journey called Lent is not an easy one to travel.  It reveals our true motives.  It blows our excuses out of the water.  It points out what we really want by making us be honest about the choices we are making.  But even in these forty days of on the uphill climb to the mountain top called Easter, Jesus is there.  He has already gone this way before us.  He chose to blaze this trail for us. (See Hebrews 12).

In preparation for Sunday, I invite you to chew on John 13.  Ask the Spirit to make you want to be free of the next toxin, envy. 

No Bus for Us

My friend and Ministerial colleague, Paul Dazet, introduced me to this quote that directly applies to this time of year, "There are two ways to get up to the mountaintop called “Easter” - one is a journey up the mountain experiencing the wilderness, the temptation, the palms, the cross, and the empty tomb. The other is an air conditioned tour bus that drops you off up top." 

Difficult is rarely fun, but it regularly hugely beneficial.  In years past, I have had people ask me why we take Lent so seriously at Living Hope. I hear what they are saying.  Lent truly is a time that I too would rather skip.  It is a time where we are are asked to slow down long enough to allow God to clearly identify sin and its impact on us personally and systemically.  Lent is a time in which we are directly asked if we trust Jesus enough to engage in the discomfort of repentance, fasting, submission and sacrifice.  I do not know about you but those are not words I would put on balloons and bring in for a party.  No, I too, would rather take the air conditioned bus to the party called Easter.  

The problem is one cannot truly appreciate or receive the gift of Easter, without walking the difficult trail up the mountain that led to it.  For centuries the Church has said Christ's sacrifice is more than worthy to ask us to devote 40 days (not counting Sundays) to face the dark side our salvation. Will you?  Will I?  Will we?

If we will give up our place on the bus and choose the difficult trail up the mountain, we will surely sweat and perhaps even bleed, but when Easter comes we will not just speak of a resurrection, we will experience one.  
I invite you to reflect on Matthew 4:1-11 in preparation for Sunday.  Read it as many times as you can before Sunday.  Soak in it. Chew on it.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what it tells you about God, yourself, our world and what it means to live for Christ? 

I hope you will choose the difficult by joining us this Sunday. 

"Ashes, Ashes We All Fall Down"

"Ring 0' Round the Roses," has been a child hood tune and game that some date back to the 1790's.  Many suggest it is simply a meaningless rhyming game for children.  Others argue its origins have a darker side.  They claim that rosy cheeks were a symptom of the plague, posies were carried to ward off the smell of the disease and ashes represent cremations and that everyone who caught the disease would "fall down" to death.  Well, while I do not see myself explaining this interpretation to my kids any time soon, it does bring up a question:  If this is true, then how can something with such specific meaning become all but meaningless? 

For instance, today is Ash Wednesday.  Every year at least one person asks me a great question: "Chad, why do we have an Ash Wednesday service.  That is a Catholic thing."  My answer is always, "It is not a Catholic thing, it is a Christian thing."  But the point remains, over time even the most meaningful of practices can become meaningless.  To be honest, I have been surprised by Catholic friends who attend Ash Wednesday services year after year and who cannot explain to me the meaning of the imposition of ashes. 

When something of meaning has lost its meaning, we can either continue practicing it with no meaning--like kids playing games about people dying or we can throw the baby out with the bath water and give up on teh practice all together or we can ask our faith ancestors why it has found such meaning for the Church for centuries, listen to their answer and rediscover its meaning for ourselves. 

I invite you to join us tonight to rediscover the meaning and to embark on the journey called Lent, which if followed, albeit challenging, will lead us to an understanding and experience of Easter like no other!

So, join us as we join four other churches to rediscover what "ashes, ashes we all fall down" means from a biblical interpretation.  Our Ash Wednesday service is tonight form 7-8 PM.  All ages welcome!

The Lord's Prayer Rodeo Style

Saturday night we went to a Rodeo that is held every Saturday in Waynesville.  The kids were invited to a birthday party there and the parents were invited to buy a ticket and stay for the rodeo.  It was really fun.

The main event of the night was bull riding.  I immediately thought of Living Hope Member, Michael Lofton, who use to be a professional bull rider.  As I watched these huge animals toss strong, grown men around like rag dolls, I grew all the more in my respect and admiration for men like Michael who cast caution to the wind and climb on a raging bull.  Of course, I have to laugh to hear Michael's wife, Linda, talk about her husband's past career choice.  She always says, "Can you believe people to do that?  You have to be a few cards short of a full deck to ride a bull."  I hear what she is saying...it is crazy...but it is always enthralling.

The rodeo barn was packed.  It was standing room only. There were less than 100 bull riders but there were about 500 spectators.  All of us watching, loved seeing someone else take the risk.  We flinched when they were tossed off a bull.  Some even screamed as the clown jumped over the railing to escape the horns of the bull.  We all cheered when one of the cowboys rode the bull for 8 seconds.  But at the end of the night, my experience was at best vicarious.  The majority of us sat and watched while only a few experienced the ride of a lifetime.

May be it is because this year I will be, God willing, completing my last year of the 30's, but more and more I grow discontent with being a spectator, especially when it comes to following Christ.  May be it is because this June I begin my 14th year of ministry at Living Hope that I have a growing sense of urgency to call the spectators in our church family to either get on the bull or get out of the way.  I do so not because I am angry, but because more and more I realize how short this time is that God gives us  here and now to live for him. 

God sent his Son not only to die, but to show us how to live.  Jesus was a "bull rider."  He confronted hypocrisy head on.  He told hell to shut up and get out of people's lives.  He told sickness to stand aside for health. He told storms to be still.  He told hunger to be filled.  He told the rejected to come home.  He lived all the way to the cross.  And perhaps it was because knew he was going to die on the cross that he lived more alive than we do.  Don;t we try to convince ourselves we've got plenty more time?  Don't we by and large live in denial of our own mortality?  Is that what robs us of urgency to live? 

Jesus was no nice, timid, spectator. He was the crazy one on the bull.  His disciples saw him live and they asked him, "Lord, how do we pray like you?"  He answered, "Our Father, (Spiritual bull riders know that God is up close and personal--he is more like a daddy than a tyrant--and so they have courage to take risks for God that others don't) who art in heaven (he is as  close as a daddy, but he is different from even the best dad we can imagine--he is god not man.  Spiritual bull riders find their courage in one that is greater than themselves), hallowed be they name (Spiritual bull riders don't need the attention, but they are willing to do anything short of sin to get the attention back on God where it belongs), they kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven (Spiritual bull riders ride in reckless abandonment  because they are convinced how whether or not they ride is directly tied to how much God is able to answer Jesus prayer to make his kingdom show up here and now), give us this daily bread (when you know your most basic needs are in God's hands and not in your control, you are more likely to climb on the bull) forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us (spiritual bull riders are no better than any one else they just understand grace and forgiveness in a real and personal way that moves them to action) lead us not into temptation (spiritual bull riders know that if they are not following God away from temptation then they will lead themselves straight to it) but deliver us from evil (spiritual bull riders know that the only chance they have in life and death is not in their power to hold on, but God's loving power to hold on to them). 

Living Hope Church, I praise God that you are church of crazy, bull riders!  Never settle for being spectators; it may be safer and require less energy, but is also the opposite of what it means to be alive in Christ.  Keep being determined to follow God's adventure into new territory because that is what makes these 8 seconds we've been given count for eternity!