Category: Christian Living

Choose to Remember

Background Passages Lamentations 3:21-26,40; Romans 15:13

If you opened my Bible, you’d find the margins dotted with editorial comments of lessons learned from personal Bible studies and notes taken from sermons preached by my pastors over the years. It is study method I learned from my parents who both taught Sunday School. I watched them make those margin notes and began to follow their lead.

It got me in trouble with my pastor when I was 10 years old. I sat with some other children near the front of the sanctuary listening to the sermon. The pastor said something I thought was significant so I jotted it down in the margin of my Bible, just like my Dad often did.

After the sermon the pastor fussed at me for writing in my Bible. I needed to treat it more reverently, he said. I remember being near tears as he scolded me. I’m pretty sure my Dad had a “come to Jesus” meeting with the pastor after I told him what happened. He had that look in his eye.

Dad just told me to keep taking notes as long I was writing things that I felt like God was teaching me. He said, “I’m quite sure God won’t mind.”

Today, the margins of some books in my Bible are a jumbled mess of handwritten notes and lines drawn from one verse to another. A few books in my Bible are dotted with little more than a scattering of comments notated in the margin.

Lamentations is one of those books. Obviously, I’ve not spent a lot of time in Lamentations and, frankly, not many of my pastors over the years delivered a sermon with Lamentations as its source.

Most Bible scholars believe Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. As a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 B.C.E., his grief over Israel’s loss was palatable.

The name of the book in Hebrew is “ekah,” literally “How…,” the characteristic beginning of a funeral dirge. It makes sense as Jeremiah’s sorrow expressed his laments as he witnessed the political and spiritual death of his beloved nation. The word Lamentations derives from the book title as it appears in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible.

A lament is a crying out…a song of sorrow. More than simply crying, a lament is a form of prayer. A conversation with God about the pain you’re experiencing. The hopeful outcome of a lament is trust. A recognition that God hears your sorrow and remains present throughout the experience.

Mark Vroegop, a pastor in Indianapolis, said “Laments turn toward God when sorrow tempts you to run from him.” He said there are four essential elements to a lament. Turning to God by laying your heart at his feet. Sharing your sorrows and fears. It is the moment when a person who is pain chooses to talk to God.

A lament brings a complaint to God and asks boldly for his help in finding a path through the circumstances. Sorrow is when we give in to despair or denial and find no hope. A lament dares to hope in God’s presence and promises.

The final element of a lament is a sense of renewed hope. It is an invitation to renew our trust in God amid the brokenness we feel.

The first verse of Lamentations sets the stage for the prophet’s internal suffering.

How deserted lies the city once so full of people! How like a widow is she who once was great among the nations! (Lamentations 1:1)

Jeremiah’s feelings run downhill from that somber beginning. As you read through the verses, you hear the shock and despair in the prophet’s voice. The devastation he witnessed was real.

To make matter worse, Israel brought this destruction upon itself, by its own rebellion and sin. That’s the burden heard in the prophet’s lament. The author knows that the Babylonians who conquered the people of Israel served as human agents of God’s divine punishment because of the sinfulness of the Hebrew people. It is a bitter pill.

The value of Lamentations to modern day Christians is its underlying belief in God’s redemptive and restoring work in our lives. The hope of a lament recognizes that God is both sovereign and good. Vroegop said lamenting is one of the most “theologically informed things a person can do.”

Life is messy and hard. Most of us have witnessed the destruction of our metaphorical Jerusalem. Circumstances and events don’t turn out as we planned. Relationships fracture as bridges burn in the background. Physical suffering saps our strength. People we love die. The hurt we feel drills deep into our soul.

Under those circumstances it might be far easier to feel embittered and angry. Expressing pain and confusion to God rather than becoming resentful and cynical requires a spiritual strength we can’t always muster. Laying our troubles at the throne of God and asking God repeatedly for his help requires a faith grounded in his word.

After reading through Lamentations this week, I found Jeremiah’s words both instructive and encouraging. Knowing that I can lay the cries of my heart at God’s feet, even when I am responsible for my circumstances, provides a sense of comfort. Hearing the words of hope and promise from Jeremiah’s own heart gives me hope that my cries will be heard.

Jeremiah struggled with the things he witnessed. The destruction. The suffering. The confusion. The judgment that came as God allowed Israel to suffer the consequences of their spiritual rebellion. He detailed his misery in verse after verse until he gets to my favorite verses in the entire book.

This I call to mind and, therefore, I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

I say to myself: “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:21-26)

Hear the beauty of the passage. That which the prophet remembers gives hope. What he remembers is not all he reported in the previous verses. What gives him hope is the truth he shares next.

He remembers “God’s great love.”  Other translations use “God’s steadfast love.” Steadfast suggests something that is firmly fixed or immovable. Something unshakable.

This steadfast love keeps Jeremiah from feeling consumed. With all that happened, every step Jeremiah takes is labored. It would be easy for the prophet to feel as if he hangs precariously at the end of his rope. Unable to go on. God’s unshakable love does not lead him into a dark place that overwhelms, but to a hope that endures. It is the silver lining in the storm clouds over his head.

Jeremiah’s life experience tells him that God’s compassions…his mercies…his grace…never failed him in the past. He sees no reason why they would fail him now, even in this most personal loss.

In the beauty of passage, Jeremiah says that God’s compassion renews every morning. Every new day is a reminder of God’s faithful love and his desire to extend his grace and mercy to all who seek him. God is a faithful and fair even when it is unmerited.

As a result of this understanding, Jeremiah knows God is sufficient in all things….his portion. It allows him to wait, even in his distress, for God to reveal himself…for God to bring an end to the suffering. For God to bring him through. He rests his hope in the promise of God’s goodness, trusting that God will cover him through his sorrow and trouble.

That’s the truth I often need to hear. You can find example after example of God’s extended love, compassion and grace toward those who are hurting in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

I think the key in this is what Jeremiah says in the beginning of this passage. Do you see it?

“This I call to mind…”

After all the horror and pain he shared from his opening words until this point in Chapter 3, Jeremiah said, “This I call to mind…” or “This I choose to remember…”

What is he calling to mind?

His declaration points forward to God’s great love and mercy. To God’s faithfulness and goodness. To his sufficiency and salvation. This is what he chooses to call to mind.

There isn’t a Christian among us who hasn’t dealt with tears. Our world is broken and brings its own special brand of hardships that we all must bear…believers and non-believers. It often consumes our thoughts. Darkens our spirit.  Often our sorrows make us feel we cannot take another step.

It seems the difference is what we choose to remember. What we choose to call to mind. You can dwell on the sorrow or you can dwell on God.

Dealing with the struggles and trouble of life will always be easier when we choose to remember God’s steadfast love and his mercy that renews itself with each new day. When we choose to remember God’s faithfulness instead of dwelling on our sorrow, we will find hope, as Jeremiah did, instead of bitter despair.

I love the truth this teaches. Life’s circumstances may make us feel as if we can’t go on, but God is not done. He is not finished. You will not fail because his love and compassion never fail.

I don’t know where your heart is today. If it is breaking…if it is filled with sorrow and despair. As real as that pain may feel, choose to trust in God’s great love and compassions that renew every morning. Choose to wait on him to work his will in your life. Trust his timing. Choose to remember God’s faithfulness.

As you make that choice, even in the middle of life’s most troublesome times, you will find hope in a Creator God who loves you without reservation.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13)

Check Your Plumb Line

Background Passages: Amos 7:7-9; Isaiah 28:16-17; Matthew 5:1-12

I have a vague recollection of my Dad building some kind of shed near the barn on our farm. The extent of my help on the project was dragging a 2 x 4 from a nearby pile, handing him a few nails, and picking up the hammer he dropped.

What I do have a memory of is watching him determine that the walls were absolutely vertical by using a plumb line.

A builder might use a plumb line as an alternative to a level to find a straight vertical line. In simplest form, a plumb line consists of a piece of string with a weight called a bob at the bottom.

When you hang the line downward, the weight, with an assist from gravity, pulls the string taut and creates a straight, vertical line. Measure your wall against that line and, if it’s equal top to bottom, your wall is plumb.

We know the ancient Egyptians used plumb lines thousands of years ago. I suspect they were used by others long before the Egyptians.

The prophet Amos, a sheepherder and farmer of figs from Tekoa, would have known how to use a plumb line. It’s natural that God would use a plumb line to reveal an important truth to his prophet.

Amos told the people of Israel that they were headed in the wrong direction. He said they “sold the righteous for silver and the poor a pair of sandals.” (Amos 2:6)

God was pronouncing judgment against Israel for its continued rebelliousness as they failed to live up to his standards and had failed to repent and return to God.

Twice as God declared his intent to punish his people, Amos begged him to relent. God then spoke to Amos a third time.

This is what he showed me. The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”

“A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord replied, “I am setting a plumb line against my people Israel. I will spare them no longer. The high places of Isaac will be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. With my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.” (Amos 7:7-9)

It’s not my intent to talk about the prophecies of Amos and how God followed through on his punishment. This passage intrigued me in what it says about God’s plumb line.

“I am setting a plumb line against my people Israel.”

I think it serves as a great reminder for us to make sure we measure up to God’s standard.

Rodney Johnson, pastor of New Light Christian Church in Kansas City, called God’s plumb line the standard by which God measures our faithfulness; our righteousness.

He said, “The kinds of instruments we use to measure our life will often determine what we uncover and how we face life in general.

“When we begin to examine our plumb lines, if they are faulty – based on the world’s standard of right and wrong – our assessments of where we are will be faulty. When our assessments are off – when they are different from God’s assessments – we cannot course correct to mirror our plumb lines to God’s.”

Years ago, I built a four-foot brick wall to shield my pool equipment from the pool. I used a plumb line. It only took a few rows of bricks to see that something was off. When I looked closer, the bob at the end of the plumb line was just barely resting on the ground. I was basing the uprightness of my wall on a faulty plumb line.

I think this is what Johnson was talking about. We too often measure our righteousness, our uprightness, if you will, by a faulty standard…parental expectations, cultural morality, friendships, legal requirements. In every one of those situations, the plumb bob is touching the ground, skewing the standard. Until and unless we use God’s plumb line, we will never measure up.

So, what’s the plumb line? What’s the standard?

In his prophetic message, Isaiah gave us a hint.

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; one that relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” (Isaiah 28:16)

“A tested stone,” one already measured against God’s plumb line, will become the “cornerstone for a sure foundation,” level and plumb. Isaiah is talking about the coming Messiah…Jesus Christ.

You see, if we’re trying to live by God’s standard, his plumb line, then we have to be able to see it. God revealed his plumb line through Jesus and through his word. To see Jesus as he lived, to hear God’s word as he preached and taught, to be able now to listen to the voice of God through the words of the Bible…that’s the plumb line against which our lives are measured.

Isaiah continues with the illustration.

I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line…” (Isaiah 28:17)

Righteousness can be defined as “living in right relationship with God” or living “upright and obedient lives.” Letting our words and our deeds measure up to God’s plumb or standard.

It is a theme that runs throughout the New Testament. Paul told the Ephesians, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us… (Ephesians 5:1-2)

We live up to God’s standard when we imitate the life of Christ and walk in love for one another.

John’s first letter declares the same. “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (I John 2:6)

The life of Jesus, his faithful obedience, his servant’s heart, make him the perfect plumb line against which we can test our own lives. We should strive to be like him.

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (I Peter 2:21)

Clearly Jesus is the standard for even Peter asks us to emulate Jesus as our perfect example of how to live our lives.

Jesus is not the only way God tests us against his plumb line. He uses his word to assess how well we are following his commands.

Look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  It says,

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

It is his word that tells us how we are to live our lives as his hands and feet in ministry.

You don’t need to read a lot of scripture to find this truth. It is there, at the turn of every page, a guide to tell us how to live, how to be measured against God’s standard and not found to be out of plumb.

It sounds so easy. Walk in Jesus’ footsteps.  Live in his image. Read the Bible. One of my favorite authors explained this in his book God’s Mirror Image:

“To live in the image of God seems to be such a deep theological concept. Yet, the promise of Jesus resonates in its simplicity. “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

Once we get past the wonder of Emmanuel, “God with us,” and embrace the character and teachings of Christ, we can see exactly how we are to exist as God’s reflected image in the world. We mirror the image of God by imitating the character of Christ.”

What is the character of Christ? Look no further than the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. Look at this passage and then think about the life of Christ. He modeled every character trait described in those verses in his daily walk.

Every instance of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth recorded in the Bible is a blueprint on how we should live our lives. It’s up to us to live as he lived.

Here’s my thought. God has a plumb line and his message to Israel long ago and to us today is that he uses it as his standard to measure our faithfulness, our obedience and our righteousness.

God knows his will for us, where he wants us to be and how we should get there. The standard modeled in the life of Jesus and reflected in God’s word tells him if we’re in plumb. If not, his plumb line shows us how far we must go to get back on track.

When I read that passage this week, I had to think about that plumb line in my life. I had to make sure the plumb line I was using was not something other than the life of Jesus and God’s word.

If I’m honest, my plumb bob has been dragging the ground a bit and the what I’m trying to build of my life has been a little off vertical.

Let me go back to what the Rev. Johnson wrote. “When we begin to examine our plumb lines, if they are faulty – based on the world’s standard of right and wrong – our assessments of where we are will be faulty. When our assessments are off – when they are different from God’s assessments – we cannot course correct to mirror our plumb lines to God’s.”

I discovered I need a course correction. I need to make sure God’s plumb line is unobstructed, free to show me where I don’t measure up to his standard. In those areas of my life where I am off, I need to get back into proper alignment with his will and way for my life. That’s my commitment this week.

How about you? When’s the last time you checked the plumb line in your life? How well do you measure up to God’s standard?

It feels like a question all of us should ask every day.

The Proper Response to Easter

Background Passages: Philippians 3:9-10; Ephesians 1:19-20; Ephesians 3:20; John 15:5,7

A week after we celebrated Easter with friends and family at our home church, we found ourselves experiencing Easter again while on vacation in eastern Europe. The majority of folks in that part of the world are Eastern Orthodox Christians who use the Julian calendar on which Easter falls one week later than it does in the States.

It was interesting to see and participate in some of their Eastern traditions. One local guide shared with us that they decorate eggs with their children just as we do. When we asked if they hide their eggs for the children to find, she gave us a look of shock and asked, “Why would you do that?” I guess it sounded mean-spirited to her.

Another Croatian family invited us to participate in their traditional “egg war.” To play this game you each hold an egg and tap the two eggs end to end. Usually, one egg will break and the other will not. The one whose egg does not break continues to test the egg against other members of the family. If yours is the last egg unbroken you are assured of one year of good luck. I lost quickly only to find out that our host was using a wooden egg.

The people we visited with indicated they would be attending church at midnight on Easter Eve and then again early Easter morning. The rest of the day would be spent with family. Our guide told us the churches would be quite full Easter Sunday, but she said, once Easter is over very few people would attend church again until Easter rolls around again.

Like those churches in eastern Europe, Easter is the most well-attended Sunday of the year in most American churches. And like those European churches, far too many American worshippers will not return to church until the following Easter holiday.

It is a sad reality of faith that far too many people acknowledge the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but find too little time to understand what it means to live as though it mattered.

So, the question every believer must answer is what is my proper response to Easter? What is my proper response to the resurrection?

The Bible records the reactions of the individuals who encountered the resurrection. Depending on the person, the response was disbelief, fear, confusion, paralysis, and at some point, joy and celebration. For the person committed to Christ, the resurrection must be a call to action.

In his letter to the Philippian church, Paul told them that everything he had gained in life up to that point was “garbage” when compared to what he had gained in Christ. He also knew he had not received everything that Christ could offer. His life as a follower of Christ continued to be shaped and molded by the work of Christ in him. He recognized he still had much to learn so he turned to the source of all knowledge.

“I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in death, and so, somehow attaining the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

It is an interesting turn of phrase in this verse that I’ve not given a great of thought to prior to the past few days. “…to know the power of his resurrection…” As a believer in Christ, we accept by faith that the resurrection Jesus’ experienced will be ours someday. That the promise of eternal life is the hope of all who believe.

The power of the resurrection is a future reality for every Christian, but I don’t think that was what Paul was thinking here. Before we can explore what he meant by the phrase, though, Paul said the surest way to avoid having an Easter-only faith is to harbor a deep desire to know the resurrected Lord. Not simply to acknowledge who he is, but to know him personally and intimately.

You hear the longing in his note to the Philippians. “I want to know Christ.” Paul’s idea of knowing Christ was to connect with him, to interact with him on a personal level. It was his passion. Absent the opportunity to walk with Jesus as his disciples did, Paul longed to see into the heart of Jesus. To understand how he could love so deeply, care so tenderly and live so faithfully. Paul earnestly and passionately wanted to have an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Any good relationship takes time spent with the one to whom we wish to connect. To get to know Jesus, takes that faith commitment as a starting point and then spends time learning the things he taught, figuring out how to apply what he taught to our lives. It speaks to the idea of following so closely in his footsteps that we become like him in the way we think, behave and the way we minister and relate to others.

To know Christ is the heartfelt goal toward which we ought to set our own lives, knowing that he is the perfect example of kindness, justice and righteousness. God said as much to Jeremiah,

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

So, our first response to the resurrection is to do what it takes to know God, to know Christ. The second part of it is to know the power of his resurrection. As I said earlier, it seems to me that Paul uses that phrase not to suggest an eternal answer, but to suggest a “here and now” experience. Paul talks about knowing the power of Jesus’ resurrection…as if it is a power and strength available to us if we can just find a way to plug into it.

I’m pretty sure we won’t find a way to connect to the power of the resurrection dressed in our Sunday best once a year on Easter.

Paul’s realization is my own. None of us has exhausted the possibilities of what God is willing to do in and through us when we plug into the power of the resurrection of Christ. Take a look at another letter Paul wrote in which he lays claim to that promise.

His opening prayer for the church in Ephesus was for enlightened hearts that see and understand the hope to which they were called and the inheritance they would receive as God’s children. He defined the hope and inheritance as…

“…the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead.: (Ephesians 1:19-20)

The power of the resurrection.

Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians would come to understand and tap into the unfathomably awesome power stored up for those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord…the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead.

With the power of God Almighty already at work within us, we can do all things, anything, everything, he desires us to do. Just look at what he says just a little later in Ephesians.

“God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)

Paul is telling us we most often dream too small. Limit what we think we can do. Never really knowing what we might accomplish for God if we just plugged into the source of our strength and power or fully committed to the work he puts in front of us.

Famed 19th century theologian Charles Spurgeon called the act of raising Jesus from the tomb “as great a work as creation itself.” Jesus entered the tomb a captive of death. By the power of God, he exited the tomb as a conqueror.

Spurgeon said Paul’s desire to know the power of the resurrection was less about the power displayed in the resurrection as it was about the power that derives from it. That’s the power that Paul wanted to tap into. The power available to us today.

The power that allows us to do more than we dream we could is the power of God that he worked through Christ when he raised him from the dead. The power that allowed Jesus to conquer death is the same power available to equip us to do “far more abundantly than all we ask or think.” It is the power that enables us to be used by God to accomplish his will and purpose in and through us.

If you’re wondering how to tap into the power of the resurrection, Jesus explained it clearly to his disciples.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:5,7)

It is the connection to the vine that enables the branch to bear fruit. The branch gains its strength through its connection to the vine, its source of growth and power. The power of the resurrection is available to those who attach themselves to the vine, to Christ, drawing our growth and strength through him.

What is our proper response to Easter? What is our proper response to the resurrection?

First, we must know Christ. Not just acknowledging his presence and who he is but getting to know him personally and intimately. Striving to become more like him every day. God’s word reveals Christ in every way that matters. Hearing God’s word proclaimed every week, studying his word regularly and deeply, provides insight we need to his character and his way. Spending time with him in conversation about our hopes, our fears, our joy and our sorrow, provides that intimate connection to our Creator and Lord.

Second, we must tap into the power of his resurrection. When you read that original passage, Paul isn’t asking for more power. He’s asking for the power already available to him. We have all this power at our fingertips, but we keep acting as if we are too weak…as if we are still slaved to our past. It’s probably the biggest reason we go to church only on Easter Sunday. We have not plugged into the power at our fingertips.

The power of the resurrection…our response to the resurrection… ought to be directed more outwardly. Christianity is not just about forgiveness and overcoming sin. The Christian faith is not just an eternal solution to our sin problem. God saved us for a reason, a purpose. We are to be his agents in the world…his voice, his hands, his feet. And he gives us the power to make it so.

Through our knowing God and making that intimate connection with him, we tap into the power to not only defeat sin and gain everlasting victory over death, but we get to share in his message of love and grace to the world, to minister to the hurting and disconnected…not in our own power, but the power of the resurrected Lord.

I think that’s the idea Paul is leading us to understand. You’ll never find it in an Easter-only world. Living in the middle of all of it all…that’s the proper response to Easter.

Aliens and Strangers

Background Passages: I Peter 2:11-12; John 17:14-17; Ephesians 4:1-6

As I reflect on things this week, I’m sailing down the Danube River in Eastern Europe. I tend to put off “don’t visit with me” vibes when I’m on vacation. One of the passengers who missed the signs asked me how many times we had been overseas. To this first-time traveler, our five times evidently qualified us as world travelers.

I sure don’t feel that way. While I know we are blessed physically and financially by God to see places in this world I never dreamed I would see, my 10 total weeks abroad on very carefully planned and sheltered cruises hardly make me Marco Polo.

I always find my time in other countries a bit surreal. Constantly aware of the cultural differences, language barriers and the vastly different historical and political frames of reference remind me that I am an alien in a strange land. It feels odd. Most of us find comfort in the familiar things of home. We find comfort in the world we know. Stepping beyond its borders heightens our anxiety.

When a thought first enters my head, I don’t always think it’s God telling me to pay attention and listen. When the feeling won’t go away, I have to reconsider if this is one of God’s teachable moments. In one of the early classes I attended in my one year of seminary, I read a short book called, An Alien in a Strange Land: Theology in the Life of William Stringfellow, by Anthony Dancer.

It has been almost 45 years since I read the book. I don’t remember a great deal. Studying the writings of American theologian William Stringfellow, Dancer came to the hopeful conclusion that the Bible (its truth) and the world (his creation) were central to God’s plan. He said the Bible is there to make sense of us and not us of it. In other words, it tells us who we ought to be rather than us trying to alter its truth to fit our desires and circumstances.

Dancer talked of a theology of engagement in the world that the church in general has come to avoid in an effort to keep the world’s influence from diluting the truth of God’s word. He argued against the church pulling back from the world, but instead engaging with it by ethically and morally carrying the teachings of Christ directly to the to those who live outside the truth God teaches.

Peter understood this when he penned his letter to believers in the first century, reminding them to live godly lives in a pagan world.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (I Peter 2:11-12)

Peter’s reminder is a good one. We are supposed to feel estranged from the world around us once we accept Christ as Lord of our lives. From the first moment we commit ourselves to him and begin to understand his teachings, we should not get comfortable living as the world lives.

If we’re comfortable with what’s going on in the world around us, we need to check our moral compass. The peg isn’t pointing to God. The magnet pull of sin and discord drags us off course.

Peter tells us our lives must be distinctively different from those who are not believers, setting aside the sinful things in constant battle for control of our lives and live, instead, purposeful, God-guided lives that reflect his love and compassion to all we encounter and every decision we make.

One can’t accomplish any of that if we disengage from the world around us. We will reach only those desperate enough to finally open a door to a church.

Peter further says the reason for our alien behavior is so that those who do not believe, and maybe even those who have been disconnected from the God they once served, will see how we live and find their way to or back to the God who loved them enough to give his life for them. In that way, God is glorified by our alien status.

It’s not enough is it, to glibly live our alien lives perfectly for God if we never connect or build relationships with the people who are residents of this non-spiritual world? It’s just not.

That scripture kept popping up every time I’d start to feel the edge of discomfort descend on me in these new cultural contexts over the last two days in Croatia and Serbia. I’ll never connect in any way with these people if I never walk among them. Never talk with them.

The same is true in Christ. The charge is to build a community of faith that becomes a safe harbor for those people in the world who God is calling to believe in him. We’re only going to do that when we are willing to be in the world, but not of it. That’s not always easy to do.

As Jesus prayed for his disciples during his last night with them, he asked his Father in heaven to guard them from the world’s influence when he left them.

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one…Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:14-17)

It dawned on me then. There’s our passport to a foreign land! That is what grants you entrance into a world in which you no longer reside. Within that prayer is the peace that should follow every one of God’s aliens in this strange world in which we live.

Jesus prayed for our protection. Jesus prayed that we be set apart (remain aliens in a strange world) by the truth we found in Jesus Christ. The great news is that the passport is written in the blood of Christ and the truth of God’s word. It will never expire, though on our end, it may need to be renewed. We can and should carry it with us everywhere. Pretty cool when you think about it.

If we know we’re aliens and strangers in this world, we also know that is our calling to live differently and distinctively for Christ in such ways as to draw all people to him. We can’t do that hunkering down in the walls of a church.

This is the first time we’ve traveled by ourselves…without the security of several other friends who journeyed with us. On a cruise like this one, that means we have to dine and visit with strangers.

Finding myself way outside my comfort zone, I’ve tried to settle in and see what connections I could make with the people of the countries we visit and the people aboard ship. Our conversation today was with a very interesting couple from Chicago with a Serbian Orthodox Southern Baptist Methodist Christian heritage.

The conversations flow more freely than I imagined. The empathy I feel for them, in many cases, grew with each moment of discussion. Through the conversations, I have found other believers, some of whom have lived through earthly hell in a war zone or refugee camp, who celebrate their faith in Christ.

One morning we visited a small Catholic church in Osejik, Croatia. Compared to the more ornate cathedrals it was simple in size and design. Its approach to worship expressed in far less grandeur and pomp. I found a degree of comfort in the relative simplicity of the sanctuary, especially given the troubled life experienced by so many in the region over the past 25 years.

You see, we had just been in a home of people who were dramatically affected by the Serbian invasion of Croatia in 1991. Seven years of separation and fear, only to return to a bombed-out home with little to nothing left to salvage. Their spirit of grace and peace was a testimony to resilience.

A few minutes later, 10 miles down the road, found us sitting in this quiet church listening to a vocal concert by a young woman. A music student at the local college, her well-trained soprano voice echoed off the surrounding walls of the sanctuary with pure clarity.

The first few songs she sang were in Latin, part of the catholic liturgy. Part of her faith. Other than Ave Maria, the unrecognized melodies stood out as beautiful songs of adoration, written in the emotion of her face as she sang.

Then, breaking from the Latin, she began to sing in her native language of Croatia.

Cudesna milost, kako sladak zyuk!
Koja je spasila bijednika poput mene
Jednom bijah izgublien, ali sad sam pronaden
Bijah slijep, ali sad vidim

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see.

Trying not to let the tears fall, God reminded me that the unifying factor for every Christian who feels estranged by the world around them is this common, but amazing grace. It encouraged me to keep living that distinctive life without fear of being an alien in a strange world, regardless of my circumstances…good or bad.

Paul had just finished praying for the Christians in Ephesus 3 asking God to grant them inner strength, to help them remain rooted in love, to find the power “together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,” even when you’re 9,488 miles from home.

You may feel at times the only one who believes as you do in the place where you live. You are not. When you step out of your comfort zone to build relationships and connect with the people God places in your life, you will find there’s always another alien just like you who has been called by God to live in the world while not being of it. One God. One Lord. One Spirit. One faith. One hope. One body.

Listen to Paul’s words.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

Because we are called to live our lives differently than the rest of the world lives theirs; because we know we are charged to live in the world, but not by its misguided precepts; because we know there is strength and power in the unified and connected body of believers across the world and because it is our commission to ensure that everyone comes to know the personal love of Jesus Christ, that discomfort and disconnect you sometimes feel while in this world lets you know that you have your heart in the right place.

Embrace the alien and stranger within you. It’s by God’s design and calling.

I don’t know if I conveyed what I hoped to convey in this, but it made sense on this side of the world.

One More Question

Background Passages: John 1:35-39; John 1:1-14, John 15:4,9

Jesus asked a lot of questions during his time on earth. The Bible records over 300 questions that Jesus tossed out as he encountered people along the way. Those are just the questions we know he asked. I would imagine in the elapsed time between biblical stories, many other questions were asked. His questions were meant to probe deeply into the hearts and minds of those he met.

We live in a culture that demands answers. Truthfully, most of us would rather give an answer to demonstrate what we know than ask a question that demonstrates what we don’t know.

Jesus was a guy who had all the answers in the world. Yet, when most people asked him a question, he rarely answered directly. In fact, the scripture only records eight instances where Jesus specifically answered a question. Far more often, he answered a question with a question of his own. His questions caused those to whom they were directed to think, to dissect their lives, and to come to grips with that which was ultimately important.

Those questions recorded in scripture, if we pay attention to them, still cause us to think, dissect and decide upon that which is ultimately important in our lives today.

For the past several weeks, I’ve looked at some of the questions Jesus asked. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say to do?” The answers led me to explore my commitment to him and my need to be faithful and obedient to his teaching.

Today’s question is so profoundly simple.

“What do you want?”

Interestingly, these four words are the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. It can’t be an accident that John included this question at the start of his narrative. The question, intended for those first century followers, is the same question John extends to every reader of his gospel throughout history.

When you think seriously about it, isn’t this the question? It stands at the heart of every religion and philosophy. It is the central question every person asks at some point in life. What do I want? What am I looking for? What is the point? What’s my purpose in life? If you’re anything like me, it is a question you’ve struggled with from time to time.

Jesus asked that question in the early days of his public ministry. Two days after Jesus walked into the waters of the Jordan to be baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, Jesus passed by the place where John continued to preach and teach. Here’s how it’s recorded in scripture.

“The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God.’ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

“Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), where are you staying?

“’Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’

So, they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. (John 1:35-39)

It is not a stretch to believe that, as disciples of John the Baptist, the two men who followed Jesus were present when Jesus was baptized two days earlier. It’s also not a stretch to believe they sat at John’s feet the next day when he testified that God’s spirit revealed to him (John 1:29-34) that Jesus was God’s Chosen One, the Anointed of God, the long-awaited Messiah.

As a result of that testimony and with his implied permission, the two ardent followers of John the Baptist left to follow Jesus when he passed by the next day. There is no mention of anyone else following Jesus that morning. At some point along the way, Jesus noticed the men shuffling along behind him.

It’s an interesting scene in my mind. Jesus looked over his shoulder and saw them. They stopped in their tracks and looked down and around, trying to hide the fact that they were following. Jesus smiled to himself and continued on his way. A few minutes later, he glanced behind him again and saw that they were still on his tail. He turned. With a tilt of his head, he asked, “What do you want?”

Jesus didn’t wait for them to get brave enough to speak to him. He spoke first. He made it easier for them to engage with him by opening the door to the conversation with a very simple question.

Therein lies a truth we find again and again throughout scripture. God always takes the initiative by reaching out to us. Our desire to know him is a seed the spirit plants within us when we’re longing for that elusive “something” that we feel is missing in our lives.

Augustine, the early Christian pastor, said God takes the first step in connecting with us. He wrote, “We could not have even begun to seek for God unless God had already found us.” God does not distance himself from us, he stops along the road and waits. He even takes those first steps toward us as he asks with a tilt of his head,

“What do you want?”

I suppose you could try to read a measure of irritation in the question Jesus asked, if you’re prone toward confrontation. “What do you want!? Why are you following me? Less of a question and more of a statement to “back off.” That says more about me and nothing about Jesus, I suppose.

No, I believe interest and curiosity oozed through Jesus’ question. On the surface, it sounds like, “Is there something I can help you with?” Here’s the penetrating power in the question though, linked to the deepest of life’s philosophical questions. What do you really want out of life?” It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I see you following me. That’s a good first step, but what are you really looking for? Do you even know what you want and need out of this relationship?”

When you think about it, it’s not an easy question to answer, is it? Most of us rarely have a handle on what we want. Standing on the side of the road, face to face with Jesus, I doubt those two men were all that sure either. To their credit, rather than give the “church answer” that they thought this new rabbi wanted to hear, they responded with a shrug of their shoulders and a desire to continue.

“Where are you staying?”

The disciples could have been content with exchanging a few words at the side of the road. “Tell us a little about yourself, Jesus. Where did you go to school? Tells us about your family. Briefly summarize your plans for the next few days. Such conversation would have been little more than a casual “get-to-know-you” encounter.

Instead, they asked him a question that implied a desire to stay with him for a time. To linger with him a bit longer. To engage in deeper conversation. To share their heart as he shared his own. These disciples said, in essence, “Is what John told us true? Are you the promised Messiah? Are you the one we’ve been looking for all our adult lives? Help us understand more.”

We should never read or hear that question from Jesus without giving it its due consideration. What exactly do I want?” We learn a great lesson from those followers. Even though they were less than certain what they wanted, they knew they needed time with Jesus to figure it out.

How are we any different? You and I should never be satisfied with a passing encounter with Christ. It will never be enough to accept him as our Lord, thinking that’s all we need do. It’s never sufficient to follow along at a distance without understanding what a life of discipleship means.

“Where are you staying?” becomes “Can we talk?”

“Where are you staying?” says “Are you the answer to the longing of my soul?”

“Where are you staying?” implies, “Teach me more.”

“Where are you staying?” means, “Help me grow in my understanding of what God requires of me.”

Jesus’ response is classic. He doesn’t give his three-minute elevator sales pitch nor does he share a three-point sermon and all six stanzas of Just As I Am. I doubt that Jesus made any attempt to persuade them that he is exactly who John the Baptist said he was. They just talked.

“Come and see!” An invitation to evolve…to grow. An offer to discover…to explore. An encouragement to keep digging until you find treasure.

I don’t think it took long for Jesus to put these two disciples at ease. When Jesus speaks, he is an open book. There is no pretense. No guile. No barriers to keep people at a distance. The warmth of his words draw them in so easily they quickly begin sharing more than they ever intended to share.

When we spend time with Jesus, quit pretending we know all the answers, we find that the longings of our hearts isn’t a philosophy or a religion. It is a person…a connection to the divine…a relationship that develops through trust over time. It is finding, as John says in those brilliant opening lines…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…In him is life, and that life is the light of all mankind…Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 12,14)

Once they received that invitation to come and see, John tells us they went to where he was staying and remained with him the rest of the day. Don’t you wish you could have eavesdropped on that conversation? I don’t know what was said, but it was life changing.

One of those two men who followed Jesus that day was Andrew. In the very next passage of scripture John tells us that Andrew was so moved by that conversation with Jesus that the first thing he did was find his brother Simon (Peter). When he tracked him down, he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from whatever he was doing. Brimming with excitement, Andrew told him, “We have found the Messiah” and he brought him to Jesus.”

I’m not sure the events of that day would have made a significant impact had those two disciples not stayed with Jesus for the rest of that day. It’s the staying with Jesus that gives us the time to truly discover what we’re looking for.

In his book, Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life, author Rowan Williams wrote on this passage of John. He said, “The Gospel teaches us that the bottom line in thinking about discipleship has something to do with this staying. Later on in this same gospel, the same language of staying or abiding as it is often translated is used again to describe the ideal relation of the disciple to Jesus.

When Jesus talked about the vine and the branches in John 15, he said the optimal way to live life is to “abide” or “remain” in me. To stay.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me… As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” (John 15:4,9)

To remain is to stay. In other words, what makes me a disciple is not showing up from time to time when it’s convenient or when I want to demand something from him. Staying is not an on again, off again relationship of convenience. It is a relationship that continues. It is a relationship that grows.

I’ll ask you the question, even though I’m busy trying to answer it for myself.

What are you looking for?

It’s the question Jesus asks all of us…all the time.

Maybe it’s time for us to come and see.

Maybe this time, we’ll stay.

Another Great Question

Background Passages: Luke 6:46-49; Romans 7:15-24

Some of the best teachers I ever had were those who challenged me with probing questions designed to pique my curiosity. It was a method championed by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. When teachers ask questions rather than simply provide information, they encourage students to dig more deeply and actively explore their own beliefs.

As good as Socrates might have been, Jesus, I think, used questions masterfully in his teaching to help his disciples see past the letter of the law into the heart of God. His questions almost always opened their eyes to a new way of understanding God’s purpose and plan.

In my last blog, I looked at a question Jesus asked his listeners. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” After looking into that challenge, I began to look for other questions Jesus asked. I found one in Luke 6 that intrigued me.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”

For years, one of my favorite shows on television was NCIS, starring Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the leader of a group of federal agents investigating crimes involving U. S. Navy personnel. When one of the agents under his command failed to grasp a key bit of information, Gibbs would often slap them on the back of the head as if to say, “Think!”

That’s what this scripture was to me this week…a slap on the back of my head. Why do I proclaim Jesus as my Lord and still do or not do what I know God’s word teaches me to do? It is a maddening tendency I expect I share with many other Christians.

It’s not a problem unique to me or to this time in history. You can hear the similar frustration in Paul’s words to the church in Rome.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do…For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do…this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is the sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:15, 18-20)

It makes the question Jesus asked even more poignant. “Why do you call me “Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”

Let’s set the context of Jesus’ question.

Throughout Luke 6, the gospel writer shares a series of teachings of Jesus. If you read through the chapter, you’ll find Jesus talking about the blessings that come from following him and the woes that befall those who go their own way. Luke relays to us Jesus’ thoughts on loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, giving them the shirt off your back and gives a taste of the Golden Rule, “Do to others what you would have them do to you.”

The questions continue to probe our hearts when Jesus asks, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” and “If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke continues with Jesus’ teaching on our desire to judge others. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged…Forgive and you will be forgiven…For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” In his message, Jesus warns us to remove the plank from our eyes before we complain about the speck in the eyes of another.

Finally, Luke shares a small parable from Jesus about a tree and its fruit, reminding us that “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:43-45)

After all of those words where Jesus calls us to a different way of life, Luke says Jesus asked our question of the day. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?”

Given our proclivity toward sin, it may be best to come to grips with what it means to call Jesus “Lord?”

When we use the term “lord” today, it is typically a verb, not a noun. Someone who abuses their power and authority is said to “lord it over” those who serve under them. It’s a negative connotation.

“Lord” becomes a noun in the Christian context. It is the person to whom we have surrendered our lives, submitted our will to the will of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Substitute “master” or “boss” if it is an easier concept to understand. One possessing absolute authority, power and control. It is a way of recognizing Jesus’ divine and holy position. Head of the church. Ruler of all creation. Lord of lords and King of kings.

When we make our faith commitment to Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are turning our lives over to him. Surrendering complete control of our lives to his will and way. Submitting to his teaching and truth in all aspects of life. That means doing things, living life, his way…not my way.

When Jesus makes this statement, he is addressing those who have made that decision to put their trust in him. His followers. He’s not talking about the charlatans who pretend to be one of his disciples. He’s talking to those who made a genuine commitment to him but are struggling with living up to the standard he sets for us. He’s talking to me, and I suspect, he’s talking to you.

See what he says after asking his question?

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them in practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent stuck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49)

Jesus drew upon his experience as a carpenter and stone mason to drive home a point. In what has become a beloved children’s Bible story, we find a great truth for all ages. When we decide to place our trust in Jesus, it is the biggest and greatest decision we will ever make. Making that decision is just the first step in making Jesus Lord of our lives.

We must build upon that commitment by becoming Christ-like. Growing in our obedience to his teachings. Building upon the truth he taught. Not just hearing his words but putting them into practice every day.

Why do we call him Lord and still do what we want to do?

Because it’s not easy. The foolish builder in Jesus’ parable, didn’t want to put in the work required to dig into the rock. He was short-sighted. It was easier and much less trouble to build in the sand. It may be easier to keep living the way we’re living before Christ became our Lord, but it brings disaster upon us. It may be difficult to do things Jesus’ way, to be obedient in all things, but that brings unparalleled security in the face of life’s flashfloods.

Theologian William Barclay said, “In every decision in life there is a short view and a long view. Happy is the man who never barters future good for present pleasure. Happy is the man who sees things not in the light of the moment, but in the light of eternity.”

It’s far easier to say the right words than to live them out every day. Yet, that is exactly what we are called to do. So, it takes us back to what Jesus talked about before this remarkable question. We must love those who don’t love us back. Do good for those who do us harm. Put aside our judgmental attitudes. Forgive those who wrong us. Be merciful. In general, treat others as we would want them to treat us.

It’s not enough to give lip service to our faith. Every day must be a concerted, if occasionally flawed, effort to live as Jesus lived.

Here’s the good news. The grace of God does not require us to be perfect. His love and his mercy trump my inability to live as I should each day. His grace gives me another chance to rebuild the shattered walls on a firmer foundation of faith.

After Paul expressed his frustrations with his own inability to do what he knows he should, he praised God for his deliverance.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ, my Lord.” (Romans 7:24-25)

That pretty much sums it up for me. I don’t want to be one of those Jesus followers who never moves past that initial faith commitment. I want to be one of those hears his word and tries with all my heart and soul to put those words into practice.

Jesus’ question is a great one. “Why do you call me “Lord, Lord” and do not do what I say?”

What answer would you give today?

Pushing the Right Buttons

Hebrews 10:22-25; I Corinthians 12: 12-26

My son Andrew has always been pretty good at pushing buttons. He had a way, particularly as a toddler, of getting under his older brother’s skin.

After one particularly troublesome morning where two-year-old Andrew repeatedly pestered four-year-old Adam, we heard a muffled scream from the playroom. Andrew came around the corner crying. He declared with righteous indignation through incredulous tears, “Adam hit me back.” It was the “hit me back” part of that statement that had Robin and I fighting back the laughter. Adam had finally had enough, and our toddler had implicated himself in his own words.

The episode didn’t cure him of being that annoying little brother at times. In the honesty of days gone by, they both were pretty good about stirring each other up, one action invariably leading to retaliation until they both were in trouble.

I guess all little brothers or little sisters have that tendency. I was a middle child. I’d like to think I was different, but I suspect my older brother would disagree.

The truth is the selfishness that is natural for a young child, tends to stay with us as adults. We’re all pretty good about pushing buttons when we’re feeling neglected, hurt or out of sorts.

The writer of Hebrews seemed to recognize that most of us are button pushers. He offered some affirming words on the subject.

The writer of Hebrews is unknown. For lack of any other name and in an effort to keep my word count low, rather than always referring to the writer of Hebrews, I’ll call him Syntakti. It means author in Greek.

Whomever Syntakti is, he is one who speaks with the authority of one who knows and understands the teachings of Jesus. The theology of his message throughout Hebrews lines up well with everything that Jesus and his disciples taught. His practical application rivals that of Paul.

One of the main theological themes of Hebrews is that Jesus is greater…the greater priest than Israel’s high priest and the greater sacrifice than any gift man might present as an atonement offering.

Shortly after making his case that Jesus is the greater priest and sacrifice, Syntaki states there is no longer a need for sacrifices offered under the law because of the price Jesus paid in blood upon the cross. Since the final sacrifice has been made and the Jesus now stands as the “great priest over the house of God” (Hebrews 10:21), the author, Syntaki, offers instruction on how to practically persevere in the faith. One of the keys, he says, is to “push somebody’s buttons” (my words, not his)

Let’s read what he says.

“Let us draw near to God with a pure heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us with a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we possess, for he who promised is faithful.

“And, let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:22-25)

Did you see it in verse 25? “Spur one another on…” Another translation says we should “Stimulate one another to love…” The author tells us to figure out how we can poke, prod and push one another toward love and good deeds. To push each other’s buttons so we learn to love each other and do the good work to which we have been called.

Our present context for “pushing buttons” is a negative one, falling more in line with the annoying little brother. We push until it triggers the explosive reaction we hoped to provoke. Syntakti encourages us to push the right buttons that spur one another or stimulate one another to do the things our great priest desires us to do.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like to be pushed or prodded to do anything…even if it’s good for me or beneficial in some way. When someone pushes my buttons…even the good buttons…I tend to push back and do nothing or worse, do the exact opposite. The author shows us how to push in the right way.

Syntakti says before we push anyone’s buttons we must “draw near to God” with a pure heart and the full assurance that faith brings. It’s an idea that speaks to our confidence and trust in the greatness and “graceness” of our Father in heaven. Because we have in Jesus direct access to the Father, because we are beneficiaries of his amazing grace, we can go directly to him with our joys, concerns, sorrows and fears in absolute confidence and trust. We have that privilege because what we find in his word and what we see in his character is true. He is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow.” Our life experiences prove it time and time again.

Drawing near to God speaks to our personal interaction with him. While we certainly draw near to him in corporate worship, we must also find intimacy with God through our private time with him. Bible study. Prayer. Listening. Walking with him every day. Paying attention to the Spirit’s leading. Such commitment cannot be a one-time thing.

The author also tells us to “hold unswervingly to the hope we possess” in Christ. Never let go of the hope we have in Christ. Why? Because he has proven himself faithful time and time again. Keep trusting in his faithfulness. Keeping a tight grip on the promises he has kept to us. His word reminds us of his constant, undivided love.

Holding without fail to our hope presents the idea of extreme focus on the things of God to the exclusion of the ways of the world. Unwavering trust when things are going well, knowing he will never ignore us. Unwavering trust in the most difficult times of life, knowing that he will never abandon us.

So, before we can push each other to do what God wants us to do, we have to have our hearts and mind in the right place. Only then can we “consider how to spur one another toward love and good deeds.” Without that foundation of faith governing our words and actions, we will almost invariably push the wrong buttons. At the very least, it will come across as a holier-than-thou attitude.

The word “consider” used in this passage means to “think carefully about…” “To figure things out…” “To be intentional” in thinking about new ways to encourage each other to live as we should. We are to light a fire under each other and push the buttons that will trigger the love within us and move toward doing good.

Syntakti knew his audience well. In the hindsight provided by the Spirit, I think he knew us pretty well, too.

Life was not easy for those first century readers. In many ways, it is no easier for us to live for Christ in our world today. The hardships they faced tempted them to drift away from the fellowship of believers. As the world discounts so much of what we hold dear, are we not also tempted to drift away?

Since the pandemic, the exodus from the church has had staggering implications on church attendance and ministry. Like those first century Christians, it seems we find it safer and easier to worship in isolation or not at all.

The author of Hebrews knows the danger of separating ourselves from the body of believers. He wants us to spur each other to love one another and to do the good work and ministry of the church. We can’t push the right buttons if we’re isolated at home. We can only encourage one another if we meet regularly together. If we join in corporate worship. If stand by each other in ministry.

Look again at verse 25.

“And, let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”

Here’s what I’ve found to be true in my personal experience. My best days of worship happen when someone pushes my buttons. The congregational and choral music inspires. The preaching challenges. The teaching makes me think. Someone uses the gifts God gave them to encourage me to keep living for Christ. To spur me on to love others more deeply. To push me to keep serving him. To prod me to keep meeting the needs of others.

I need that encouragement in my life as I suspect you do. I need them to push my buttons. It’s true that one can practice faith in isolation, but others miss out on your testimony and witness. If you are not “meeting together,” you’re depriving others of the gifts you bring to the table. You’re depriving them of the blessings you have to offer. If I’m not present, I’m depriving you of the blessings I have to offer.

In I Corinthian’s 12, Paul plants his tongue in his cheek and tells us how much we need each other.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a foot, I don’t belong to the body,” it would not be a reason to not belong to the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?…Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it. ” (I Corinthians 12:15-17, 27)

The point of that humorous illustration is that God gifts us in unique ways to be a part of the body of believers. The kingdom of God only flourishes when every part of that body is present and working together.

If you’re an ear, I need you to be a great ear. If you’re a foot, put your best foot forward. By being who God called you to be, I am encouraged to use my God-given gifts in service to God and others. I am encouraged to love and do good deeds. And, maybe, just maybe, as I do those things, I am an encouragement to you.

My boys pushed a lot of buttons in their childhood and, especially during their teenage years. Even in those times, we knew they cared for each other. They did enjoy pushing those buttons, though.

However, in the years since, they’ve pushed the right buttons for each other. The deep love and friendship they have for one another stands in remarkable juxtaposition to the arguments of youth. They have been there for each other in some incredibly difficult times over and over again, encouraging one another, much to the delight of their parents.

I am grateful for all the people God placed in my life to push all the right buttons in me. You have spurred me to love more deeply and serve more intentionally.

Let me encourage you to draw nearer to God. To hold unswervingly to the hope in Christ that you possess. Then, let’s consider together ways that we can together push each other’s buttons so we can love with the love of Christ and do the good work he has called us to do.

Seems to be a good prayer for today.

Amen!

As Time Goes By

Background Passages: Psalm 90; Ephesians 5:15-20; Colossians 4:5-6 and Matthew 25:23

You must remember this.
A kiss is just a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh,
The fundamental things apply,
As time goes by.

Written in 1931 by Herman Hupfeld, As Time Goes By leapt to fame when it was featured in the 1942 Warner Brothers film Casablanca, performed by Dooley Wilson as Sam. The popularity of the song through the years is in the way it evokes a strong feeling of nostalgia…of regret and remorse over opportunities missed.

We flipped the page to another calendar year last week. It seems natural that the dawning of a new year causes us to reflect on the past as we look with either expectation or dread to the coming year.

Time is a weird concept when you think about it. When asked by a report to explain his theory of relativity in simple terms, Albert Einstein only half-jokingly responded by saying, “The only reason for time is to keep everything from happening at once.”

Here’s what I know about time. One can have too much time or too little time. Sometimes, there is never enough time. The days can be the best of times or the worst of times. We can make time, waste time, take time and spend time. I know that time heals all wounds and that time is money. It can be his time, but not her time. Time flies and time stands still. None of that explains what we are to do with our time.

According to Hal Borland, noted author and journalist, “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on.”

As a younger man, the new year brought a sense of excitement, offering a fresh start. As I have lived out my 69 trips around the sun, the pragmatist in me tends to agree with Borland, a new year is simply “going on.” Just another day on the calendar.

American poet Mary Oliver appeals to the dream in me when she invites us into a new year. “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” In a way, that makes time a God thing…a gift that is more than simply “going on.” Each passing day gives way to the unimaginable presence and purpose of God in our lives. Time is a God thing.

Though the Bible never explicitly says that time is God’s gift, it certainly implies it. Genesis tells us God created the heavens and the earth in the darkness. As he hovered over the depths of the sea, he spoke time into existence.

“Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God call the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning…the first day…and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:3-5, 9b)

Isn’t it interesting? God, who is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), had no need for the concept of time, but the finite beings he created would need to understand the limits placed on human existence.

“The length of our days is seventy years…or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)

If that sounds too much like Borland’s rueful lament, we just need to keep reading God’s word to find Oliver’s unimaginable. Knowing that our time on earth has a beginning and end, the Psalmist goes on to say…

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

That’s an important point of a new year, don’t you think? To gain a heart of wisdom? It’s critical because there are some really unwise ways to live. I don’t even need to look at the lives of others to know that. All I have to do is look at some of the choices I’ve made in the last year.

A heart of wisdom tells me to not place my hopes and dreams, my identity or my worth on things that will pass away as time goes by. Rather, my hopes, dreams, identity and worth can only be found in my relationship with God who made me and sustains me. Because he is eternal and his promises to me are eternal I should live my life for him and trust the work he has given me. That’s why the Psalmist ends his song with this.

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:17)

Each new year is God’s gift of time, a not-so-subtle reminder that life is finite…too short…to make plans that ignore God’s plan and will for us…to ignore the work he has established for our hands to do. That lays a responsibility upon every believer to use the time we’ve been given wisely.

Because Paul understood this responsibility to live wisely, he told believers in Ephesians and Colossians to “redeem the time.”

Be very careful, then, how you live…not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity (redeem the time (KJV), because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is…speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:15-17, 19-20)

His message to the Colossian church hit a similar theme.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity (redeem the time (KJV)). Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6)

To redeem is to buy back. To give back something in exchange for what we have already been given.

To redeem the time or make the most of every opportunity suggest that we pay God back for the time he gives us by worshipping him in heart and spirit, constantly thanking him for all he has done for us. We redeem the time or make the most of every opportunity by speaking words of grace to a lost world. Letting our words and our deeds be a testimony to the love and grace of God in our lives.

Perhaps, there is no greater testimony than the life described in Micah 6:8.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

I wish I could look back on 2022 and say I lived those godly ideals every day. I suspect you’re no different. There is little we can do to change the past. There are, however, lessons to be learned from those experiences that guide us in the days to come.

Shauna Niequist is a Christian writer and author of Present Over Perfect. Her words may be the words we need to hear at the start of this new year.

“I used to think that the ability to turn back time would be the greatest possible gift, so I could undo all the things I wish I had not done. But grace is an even better gift because it allows me to do more than just erase the past; it allows me to become more than I was when I did those things. It’s forgiveness without forgetting, which is much sweeter than amnesia.”

Maybe Borland and Oliver were both right. The new year is a going on. It is also the doorway to the unimaginable. I know it is a new chance to redeem the time we’ve been given.

In the parable of the Talents, Jesus tells us that we are responsible for using what God has given us to bring him glory and honor. While he is not speaking specifically of time in the context of the parable, it does not take a great leap to see its application.

He tells the story of a rich man who has three servants. He gives each servant an amount of money (Talents) and asks each servant to be good stewards of what he has been given. The first servant is given five talents and uses it to produce five more. The second servant is given two talents and doubles his investment. The third servant, fearful of doing something that might displease the rich man, buried his talent. When he was called to account for what he was given, he dug up the coin and returned the single coin to his master.

The servant who hid the coin was scolded for his laziness. Those who made the most of their opportunity heard a different word.

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” (Matthew 25:23)

So as time goes by, let’s celebrate the amazing grace of God. Let’s redeem the time. Let’s make the most of every opportunity in the time we’ve been given to worship and serve the God who is worthy of our worship and service.

That’s my hope for my new year and my hope for you in the days to come. When we close the book on 2023, I hope we can all hear the voice of our timeless Father saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

That would truly be a Happy New Year.

Why a Baby?

Background Passages: Isaiah 7:14-16; Matthew 1::22-23; Hebrew 2:17-18

Why Bethlehem?

Why Mary? Why Joseph?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve read and read again the familiar Christmas story as recorded in Matthew and Luke. Why Bethlehem? Perhaps, the small Judean village was chosen to remind us that God can work in and through the insignificant to accomplish his purposes.

Why Mary? Why Joseph? Perhaps they were chosen to be the parents of Jesus because of their faith and willing hearts. They opened themselves to the possibility of being used by God, even when the task seemed unimaginable and overwhelming.

With Christmas upon us, we believe the creator of heaven and earth chose to reveal himself to his creation as an infant. It begs the question, “Why a baby?”

The Signatry, A Christian foundation based in Overland, Kansas, launched the He Gets Us media campaign in March 2022, to introduce Jesus to those struggling to understand that our Lord understands the struggles of life we all experience. You may have seen or heard the He Gets Us messages via TV, radio, digital ads, billboards and other social media platforms.

According to Signatry, the focus of the $100 million initiative stems from the “desire to see the Jesus of the Bible represented in today’s culture with the same relevance and impact he had 2,000 years ago.”

I don’t know how effective the campaign has been, but it creates a great starting point for a conversation that might answer our question, “Why a baby?”

God could have materialized fully grown, walking into Nazareth to set up a carpenter’s shop. He could have burst on the scene on the steps of the temple in Jerusalem, teaching a message of hope and grace. Jesus didn’t just transport down to earth from heaven. Why a baby?

Once you get past the immaculate conception, the birth of Jesus wasn’t much different from what I observed when my own children were born. Trade our sterilized environment with the sights and smells of an unsanitary cave turned stable…trade a doctor and a bevy of nurses for a last-minute midwife…now the birth of Jesus appeared as normal as any other, except to two people.

I imagine Joseph and Mary stared at the child who came to them in Bethlehem. Their insight into the nature of the swaddled child derived from an angel’s personal message delivered nine months earlier. Cradled in Mary’s arms rested a baby proclaimed by a host of heavenly angels and celebrated by a herd of smelly shepherds.

There in the light of the stars was the Messiah, the subject of prophecies, poems, songs, hopes and dreams of a people to whom God promised his presence. The lump in their throats must have been the size of an apple every time they thought of its implications.

With a nation’s expectations already on his shoulders, it had to be hard for Mary and Joseph to imagine such magnificence when they changed his soiled clothes or listened to his hungry cries. Reality stared them in the face with the unfocused eyes of a newborn.

I admit it. I will never be able to explain how Jesus was fully human and fully divine…simultaneously. Human in every aspect. God in every way. The Apostle John heard it from the source and believed. He tells us at the start of his gospel…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God from the beginning…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:1, 14)

I accept that Jesus was wholly God and completely human simply on faith.

That God incarnate would come to earth as a baby was a part of God’s plan from the beginning. When God chastised the serpent for leading Adam and Eve to sin, he said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman. And between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

God also promised Abraham and David that the Messiah would come from their descendants. In explaining the birth of the Christ child, Matthew makes it a matter of fulfilled prophecy when he quotes Isaiah 7:14-16 in his introduction to his gospel. The passage gives us insight into why God chose to send his son as an infant.

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.”

The first hint I find is in his name. Immanuel, which Matthew tells us means, “God with us.” Those of us who profess a belief and trust in Jesus know that he is with us, every day, walking with us through the good and bad times of life. But, I wonder if the translation is simpler than that. God is with us. Looking on his life, we know that Jesus experienced life just as we do. He lived it in every way we live it.

Could Immanuel also mean that God is with us…on our side…that he gets us, as Signatry says, because he knows how difficult it is to live life in the face of temptation, heartache and pain. He knew joy and sorrow. Tears and laughter. He dealt with all of it.

Jesus came to us as a baby so he could grow up just like we grow up. So, he could identify with us. Look at Isaiah’s words again. He will be eating curds and honey until he knows enough to discern good from evil. He’ll eat the pablum of childhood until he reaches the age of accountability for his actions. From that point on, Jesus had to choose right from wrong, just as we do. Because he faced those same dilemmas, he can identify with our struggles.

A 12-year-old Jesus astounded the teachers of the law in the temple until Mary and Joseph had to pull him away. But, even then, scripture tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. It’s comforting to me that as a 12-year-old, Jesus didn’t have all the answers. Like us, he kept increasing in knowledge and understanding of all facets of life.

You see, Jesus had to come as a baby so he could grow up just like us…to become like us…with a full human inclination to go his own way, to fully experience and understand our weaknesses. To live life wrapped in our skin and still not sin. That’s the only way his sacrifice on the cross would make any sense.

“He had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18)

Because he dealt perfectly with his temptations as a human being, he can, through his spirit, help us when we are tempted. Only by being flesh and blood could he gain victory over death, opening the doors to eternal life for those who will accept him as Savior and Lord.

Could we follow his footsteps as a man if he had not crawled as an infant? Could we believe he suffered through every temptation we have faced if he had bypassed the struggle to earn adulthood?

Dr. David Jeremiah wrote an article years ago from Crosswalk.com about Jesus coming as a baby. He said, “To make the full sacrifice on our behalf Jesus had to make the full commitment. It would have meant little to us if he had sprung from heaven fully formed, bathed in heavenly glory, saying, ‘Here are my hands and feet. Place me upon the cross, for I am willing to die.’”

Instead, we get to see the child in the manger. The boy in the temple. The carpenter at a wedding in Cana. We see him react to the jealous whispers of the Pharisees and the disbelief of his own brothers. We see him hug the children as he blessed them. We see him unafraid to touch a leper. We see him asking probing questions to a misguided woman at a Samaritan well. We watch amazed has he feeds a multitude. We hear him cry outside the tomb of a dear friend. Above all, we see him love.

In Jesus we see the perfect example of how to love and care for a world lost in its own sin. Because he is Immanuel, God with us, we see in him how we are to live and love. In this baby, we see one who later became a quiet servant of God who began a ministry that would change the course of human history. We see one who changed the lives of all who believed in him.

While the divine Jesus showed us the way to eternal life by dying, his human side showed us all that pleases God by living. He is the example of what it means to live a Christ-like life.

My uncle Les is a retired minister who still writes devotionals from his heart. In a completely uncoordinated effort with mine, the devotional he posted today asked the same question, “Why a baby?”

“I read the story of Jesus’ birth again, and a lovely little grin comes to my face, and a sweet, sentimental feeling overcomes me. Still, I wonder, why a baby? Could it be that since Jesus’ calling was to teach us how to be human and not gods, God’s perfect move was to start at the beginning.”

That’s probably it in a nutshell. He came as a baby. He grew and conquered every challenge so common to all of us so we could see how it is done. The perfect example of what it means to be human in the way God created us to be human.

So, let’s celebrate that this Christmas. Then, we can enter the new year resolved to follow in his footsteps.

Merry Christmas, y’all!

Finding Peace

Background Passages: Philippians 4:6-9; John 14:26-27

Sarah Winchester began the construction of her new home in San Jose in 1884, shortly after the death of her husband William, the firearms magnate. For 38 years until her death in 1922, the 22,000 square foot home was under constant construction or renovation.

There are more than 10,000 windows and 160 rooms in the Winchester Mansion. The result of this haphazard design is a maze-like structure with doorways and stairways that lead nowhere.

Teams of carpenters, masons and other trades were employed around the clock to address Sarah’s eccentric ideas. The design mattered less than the need to keep building. Sarah, it seems, struggled with her husband’s life work. She believed that she and her home would be haunted by the ghosts of those killed by her husband’s rifles unless he kept building her house.

It’s estimated that Sarah spent $70 million largely on pointless construction, all in a desperate search for peace that never came.

The world seeks peace today in pursuits just as fruitless as the one attempted by Sarah. Pursuing such paths will never bring peace.

We know there exists a difference in peace as viewed by the world and peace that comes from God. The world speaks of absence of conflict, calm, harmony, and happiness. Humanity’s quest for peace seems always just out of reach. Those who understand the term at a spiritual level acknowledge that God is the only true source of peace.

In the Old Testament, peace seems to be the greatest good that men could wish for each other. Ancient greetings reflect this. Even Judah’s enemy Nebuchadnezzar wrote, “Unto all people, nations and languages, that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you.” (Daniel 4:1)

Jewish greetings always wished peace. The Hebrew word translated as peace is a familiar term. It is shalom. It means completeness, soundness and welfare. Its root means to make whole or complete. Having shalom meant being in a state of wholeness or completeness, lacking nothing of importance.

The New Testament form of the word for peace is eirene (i-ray’-nay). It means unity, being one, quietness and rest. Its root means to tie together as a whole. It speaks to reconciliation, to come back together. To be complete.

So, God’s peace will always be different from peace sought by the world. Biblical peace speaks to a restored relationship with God through Christ Jesus. It is a state of wholeness and completeness experienced by those who are living in right relationship with God.

So, at the eternal level, peace with God requires a relationship with him. The path to peace begins with our declaration that Jesus is Lord of our lives…that we have put our faith and trust in him and him alone.

I don’t know about you, but it’s rarely that simple. I put my faith and trust in Christ as a nine-year-old boy who had not known the deepest struggles of life and faith that come from life experiences.

So, on a practical level, how do we find the peace of God amid the turmoil that comes as we live each day? I find some answers, I think, in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then, you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Don’t worry. Pray. Pray about everything. Now, I’ve never really subscribed to the idea that God cares which toothpaste I use. I supposed that there might be a specific point and time where my toothpaste choice might matter to the point where I make that a matter of prayer, but generally, I’m not sure God cares.

I think Paul says the path to peace begins in conversation with the father about the things we need…really need…in life. And, he adds, that a great starting point in that process begins by thanking him for all he has done for us in the past. The brightest light in the darkness of life is not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light shining from behind us…where hindsight is 20/20…the light that shines on the path I’ve already traveled. The one that illuminates the footsteps of the Father walking beside us through those difficult times.

Paul chooses his words carefully, writing in ways that make connections with his first century readers. Philippi was situated near the coast of Greece. As such, it was a sentry city, of sorts, for the inland areas of the region. Since many of the residents of Philippi were retired Roman soldiers, they understood the danger of attack.

As a result, a sentry worked throughout the night in Philippi…24/7. While the people slept, the sentry, the phulasso, kept watch for enemy soldiers, thieves and wild animals. While the phulasso was on guard, the people could sleep in peaceful slumber.

Paul used this imagery to talk about a peace beyond our understanding. Paul says talking to God about what troubles us is a sure way of finding a peace we cannot easily comprehend. A peace that protects or guards (like a phulasso will guard) our hearts and minds from dredging up the past we cannot change and the worst future we can imagine. A peace that keeps us from believing that our mansion is haunted by our past and that we must keep building a stairway to nowhere. A peace that comes only as we live in Christ Jesus.

So, how do we live in Christ Jesus?

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then, the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

Martin Luther once said, “While you cannot prevent birds from flying over your head, you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.”

Our minds are constantly churning. Left to our own imaginations, it’s easy to get fixated on something that causes us anxiety and worry. It is easy to let our thoughts center on guilt, anger, pain, uncertainty, loss, worry, hurt, danger and a host of other negative things. Paul knew how easy it was to fall into this trap…how easy it is to let the birds build a nest in our hair.

Rather than allow the negativity to set in, Paul said to “fix your thoughts…” focus intently on…to meditate…to dwell…on the thoughts of Christ. He lists a collection of filters through which all our thoughts must run.

Dwell on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Meditate on the excellent things of life and things that are worthy of praise. We must run our thoughts through these traits. If any thought that enters our mind does not pass the test, we should reject it. We are to make our thoughts obedient to Christ.

Paul lived his life in obedience to Christ. The things he said and did, the way he chose to live, the things he taught…all of these things were built upon the model of Christ, revealing what Christ taught him that he passed on to the Philippians. He encouraged them to focus on the things of Christ and put into practice his teachings…to live a Christlike life.

Here’s where I think the rubber meets the road.

Jesus’ death and resurrection reconciled those who trust in him to God. Being in right relationship with him puts us on the path to wholeness and completeness. The difficulties of life pull us every day in the opposite direction. The worry and anxiety that creeps in at these times can be set aside by talking with the one who loved us enough to die for our sins.

When we can talk to him and recall all that he has done to carry us through difficult times in our lives, we can experience his peace…that sense of connection and completeness that only comes when we are in close contact with our father. It is this peace that protect us from the onslaught of thoughts that spiral into the depths of despair and desperation. It is peace and wholeness that comes only through a life of focused discipleship.

I don’t know if Mark Twain was a Christian. Based on his writings, he was put off by the lack of practice in what was preached.

A wealthy businessman from Boston with a reputation for ruthlessness and unethical behavior once told Twain that his dream was to visit the Holy Land before he died. His desire was to climb Mount Sinai with his Bible and read the 10 Commandments.

“I have a better idea,” Twain responded with his typical wit. “Why don’t you stay in Boston and keep them.”

Twain has a point. We tend to think we’ll find peace in some great mountaintop experience rather than daily obedience.

So, we are to focus on what we have been taught in scripture about living as Christ lived. Following his example. Passing all our thoughts through the life of Christ. Discarding what is undesirable and obeying his teachings. It is in that obedience that we find wholeness. Completeness. Peace.

Such behavior and thinking comes with a promise not only of the peace that protects and guards our thoughts, but with the presence of the comforting Father.

Look at the past phrase of Paul’s message in verse 9.

“Then, the God of peace will be with you.”

I think I always read that as “God’s peace be with you,” but that’s not what he says here. Paul already told us that we can have the peace that protects and guards when we talk to God. Now, he’s telling us that the God who is peace, the author of peace and reconciliation, will be with you. His presence in our lives brings peace.

In their most troubled time in the upper room listening as Jesus explained his imminent death on the cross, the disciples heard Jesus make this promise.

“All I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.” (John 14:26-27)

It is impossible for us to understand fully in this present world with all its struggles the complete peace that comes only from God. The comforting thing to me is that God sent the Holy Spirit to those who believe as a constant reminder of his teachings and the daily presence of the God of peace.

I built my fair share of stairways and doorways that lead nowhere as I struggled with the life experiences I faced. When I lay those struggles at the feet of Christ and talk to him about my needs, peace comes. That sense of connection and completeness follows. When I can turn aside those negative thoughts and focus instead on what it means to live a Christlike life, I can experience and feel the presence of the God of peace.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.”

Shalom.