Exhausted

I once had a friend who could fall asleep anytime anywhere. Car ride more than fifteen minutes? Snoozing. Sit down to watch a movie? Out like a light. He had to make a concerted effort to get ready for bed because if he lay down, he was out for good. People would ask him how he could fall asleep so quickly, and his prepared answer was always, “clean conscience.” He was a very active guy, who had a physically demanding job, and trained four days a week. The truth was that he was just always tired.

I’m sure we’ve all had seasons in our lives where we experience true exhaustion. This isn’t the “I had a long day and need to kick up my feet” tired. This is the “deep in my bones” weariness where your only desire is to crawl into bed and be unconscious for as long as possible. Maybe you started a new job, maybe you added a kid to your family or maybe there’s a global pandemic happening. It’s okay to be tired. It’s okay because we have a God who you can trust to carry you through the hardest times.

Psalm 94:18-19 says, 
18 When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.

It is easier than ever for our “feet” to slip these days. You watch the news or look at the numbers and the cares of our hearts become many, many, many! It is times like this when we need to center our focus on God’s steadfast love. We need to allow God’s consolations to cheer our souls. 

The times are scary, and it feels like the old normal is slipping further and further away. It is times like this that should cause us to lean in closer to our faith. God stays the same through the ages, God’s love never changes. There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning. We just need to hold on to the hope we have, and we will make it to morning stronger and more faithful. 

Socially distant doesn’t mean relationally distant. Reach out to someone.
Now wash your hands and don’t touch your face.

Remain Calm

Psalm 139:23 - Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my restless thoughts.

Having someone tell you to calm down usually has the opposite effect. It amps you up even more. How dare someone else dictate my mood or how I react. It’s like the warning we hear during quarantine: “don’t touch your face.” Every time I hear that my nose itches, and I have never wanted to touch my face more. Maybe I’m just a contrarian. 

No matter how you might react when told to calm down, calmness is something we all need to strive for during this unique time in the world. Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my restless thoughts.” Make a mental list of the things that caused your restless thoughts pre-quarantine. When you look at your list is there anything there that you would point to as the greatest problem that anyone on Earth has ever faced? Probably not. However, each of our lists will be filled with things that matter to us. The challenge is to not get so wrapped up in our own lists that we forget that everyone else has their own list just like it.

Similarly, we can make a list of things that matter to our hearts. Most of our lives are spent living in the tension between the desires of our hearts and the restlessness of our thoughts. God knows our hearts. God has put a call on our lives to make an impact on this world. Though we may not fix everything in the time we have whatever we do for someone vulnerable, overlooked, or ignored we do for the Lord.

Right now, we are being asked to stay home, and it’s hard. We are heading into week three of this with no real end in sight. The cabin fever is real. Though you love your family very much, they are also getting on your last nerve. The only excursions you have to look forward to are MAYBE a careful walk around the neighborhood. Add to that the normal stress of life and we can be filled to the brim with restless thoughts.

Today do what you can, fight and scrape, wheel and deal, to find 2 minutes for yourself and pray these two verses:
Psalm 139:23 – “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my restless thoughts.” 
Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God. God is with you. We can remain calm even when we’re scared, or lonely, or frustrated, or restless. God loves you.”

Socially distant doesn’t mean relationally distant. Reach out to someone.
Now wash your hands and don’t touch your face.

The Restlessness of Uncertainty

Depending on when you start counting, we are approximately 10 days into quarantine. We are starting to figure out what our day to day might look like, but it will take a little while before any of this even starts to feel normal. That’s all many of us really want right now: something to feel normal. Unfortunately, normal could still be a bit further down the road.

While we sit in the restlessness of uncertainty, we are being asked to do the hardest thing of all: nothing. In our normal lives we all go through times of anxiety or personal angst and we find ways to work through it. We hit the gym, we buy something we don’t need, we focus on work, or maybe just have a good Sunday spent with the people of hope. However, we are living in a world where all those things are closed. We are being asked to find new ways to cope.

I hope you can use this time to pick up some positive habits. Pray, read your Bible, set some time aside during your day to devote to God. Luke 12:23-26 says, “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?”

Right now, most of the world is shut down. In the future, many of us will reflect on this as a turning point for their lives. Some will turn for the better and some will turn for the worse. No matter where this strange time leads us, we must continually remind ourselves and the people around us that God cares for us deeply. Do what you can to remind each other of that whenever possible. Socially distant doesn’t mean relationally distant. Reach out to someone.

Now wash your hands and don’t touch your face.

So, You’ve Been Quarantined!

Alternate title: How we stand together, by staying apart. One of the best parts about Restore as a community of believers is that the place in which we meet has never been the focus of our coming together. In the last ten years we’ve never had a building that was 100% ours. We’ve borrowed, rented, and shared. Like a hermit crab who casts off their old shell whenever the need arises we move forward. And we can do it because we are dedicated to the cause of Christ and to one another.

We can do it because we are fully solidified in our hope for the future. Paul tells us in Romans 5:5, “…hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” We can look forward with the hope in our hearts to a time when things are better than they are now. Some won’t see it this side of glory but know in your heart that things will get better one way or the other.

For me this social distancing/quarantine/shutdown mostly means I don’t need to put on real pants unless I want to. I can do my job most days anywhere with my computer and an internet connection, and I have no cute, little disease vectors to homeschool and feed. Others of you, however, have much more complicated lives. You may have a job that doesn’t translate to working remotely, you have kids that are home all the time and they need educating, and feeding, and may not understand why you’re not allowed to go out and do anything fun.

Amid the fears of infection, we must all do our best to remember who we are and whose we are. We may not be able to come together on Sunday mornings the way we would prefer but know that we are all in this together no matter what. Socially distant doesn’t mean relationally distant. Reach out to someone, make a phone call, send a text, share the love that God has poured into your heart even when you’re fearful.

Now wash your hands and don’t touch your face. 

We Haven’t Failed Since Last Time

Romans 7:15-17 - 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

In this tongue twister of a passage, Paul is wrestling with a problem we’ve all been dealing with since we realized the difference between right and wrong. In a given situation we know the correct course of action, we know what the Holy, saved by grace child of God should choose, and we just reject it. Sometimes with deliberation and sometimes it’s our gut instinct. This is obviously what the Bible refers to as sin.

If you care to wander down the Romans road you will quickly come across Romans 3:23 which lets us know that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is a problem we all have, it’s a problem we all struggle with, and it’s a problem we won’t be able to solve this side of heaven.

One way of dealing with sin in our lives, looks like a farmer dealing with weeds in a field. The farmer must work every day to pull the weeds that might be encroaching. The field will never be perfect and pristine but as long as the farmer pulls those weeds as they come up the field will never be fully overtaken. 

It may feel like fighting the wind or trying to punch a wave, but our mission is to run boldly after God and to bring as many people as we can along with us. In fighting sin, we will face hard times and we will fail. We must remember that it’s not the long walk home that will change our hearts, but the welcome I receive with every start. Though we are drawn towards shadows, we need only turn around to see that the light is right behind us.

If you know what is right, choose that!

Time for Us

I had a friend who was almost moved to a class for special needs kids in Kindergarten because he couldn’t learn his colors. It should be so simple, right? Red is different from Blue. Yellow is not Purple. Egg shell could never be mistaken for Alabaster. The teachers weren’t sure what to do with him; he seemed to be guessing every time he was asked the question. Turns out he was just profoundly colorblind. To hear him describe it, he lives life in sepia tones. His issue had a very specific cause, but his teachers just assumed he was a “little too slow” and wouldn’t give the time to find the real issue (Small disclaimer: when this happened, the state he was in was 48th in the nation in education, so they weren’t exactly hiring the cream of the crop).

By the time he was in high school he was taking all the advanced classes possible and scored 50 points shy of perfect on his SATs. How different would his life have been if a lazy teacher had just pushed him off as one of the slow kids? Unfortunately, this is something we do all the time. Instead of looking to help someone with what might be a minor issue we push them off. The specter of busyness is always there to get us off the hook of seeing a “them” that might need an “us.”

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says, “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” And Paul continues in verse 31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

You have stuff you need to do; we all do. However, if you claim the cross of Christ as the means to your salvation you have also been given the higher calling. A calling to be there for people who need you. It’s not always easy, it’s rarely convenient, but if you are a mature believer you know what the right thing to do is.

My friend could have easily been sent down a path where no one expected anything from him because he was pigeon-holed as one of the slow kids. How often have we ignored someone because we have already categorized them? This person looks weird, or talks to much, or not enough and I’m too busy to show them grace.

Reach for your higher calling, you’re never too busy to be kind.

Dirty Jobs

Nehemiah 3:14 - Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars. (ESV)

When I started writing today, I began by thinking about the internal dialogue Malchijah must have had with himself when he received Nehemiah’s instructions.

Nehemiah had gone back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city that had been damaged by war and neglect. One of the ways he likely assigned workers to portions of the wall was simply to tell them that they would be responsible to fix the section closest to where they lived. I imagined Malchijah’s frustration that he was assigned the dung gate.

The dung gate was the garbage dump of the city. It was the place where all of the items that no one wanted were taken outside and piled up. The name implies more than just garbage; it was probably the place where all of the animal refuse was taken. It was dirty and gross, and even more so after the rubbish had been sitting around.

We don’t actually know what Malchijah thought about the task. Maybe he didn’t protest at all but saw the wisdom of Nehemiah’s strategy. Someone had to rebuild that portion of the wall, so why shouldn’t it be the person who lived closest? Disgusting as it may have been, it was an important point of entry and exit, and if it wasn’t secured, the entire wall would have been worthless. Maybe Malchijah even volunteered for the task. All we know is that Malchijah was already in a position of leadership in and around the city, overseeing one of the districts, and Nehemiah notes that he restored the integrity of the gate.

Nehemiah’s rationale was simple. If the people of Jerusalem wanted to know how they could help the city and participate in the rebuilding of the wall, they didn’t need to look any further than what was right in front of them. If everyone took responsibility for their section, the wall would be completed. This meant that some people would restore the places of honor, and other people would have to take on the less desirable tasks. Malchijah played his part.

The same principle applies in the kingdom of God. It doesn’t do much good for us to worry about what others are doing or whether or not our assignment is as prestigious as others. Our job is to look at what’s right in front of us and give it our best effort. We all have different measures of time, talent, and treasure. It is essential for us to give what we can if we desire to see the kingdom of God advance. Sometimes, that means taking on the jobs that feel sort of crappy.

It’s likely that this is why Malchijah was in a position of leadership in the first place. If we desire God to use us, it begins with being willing to do the things that are right in front of us. When we all have that sort of desire, it’s amazing the things that can be accomplished in a short amount of time. Nehemiah built a wall. 

What will you build?

Leaven

Luke 13:20–21 - And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Jesus parable of the leaven is in the running for one of the shortest parables in the gospel of Luke. I wonder if he came up with it on the spot or if it was rattling around in his mind and he was just looking for a place to insert it?

If he was waiting for the perfect time to use it, he nailed it. Jesus had just finished healing a woman, who had been disabled for 18 years, on the sabbath. This particular disability was the result of demonic oppression and when Jesus sees her, he immediately sets her free. One of the religious leaders is furious; Jesus had just broken the sabbath–and while he was in the synagogue, to boot! Jesus calmly asks the religious leaders whether they would break the sabbath if it meant providing water for some of their livestock; if they would, then how much more valuable is this daughter of God?

Luke is probably underemphasizing the disruption that likely followed. He says that “Jesus’ adversaries were put to shame” while everyone else rejoiced. As Jesus sat watching the commotion, he turned to his disciples, and perhaps with a gleam in his eye and a slight smile on his face, he told the young men around him this parable.

Jesus was incredibly strategic in the way that he advanced the kingdom in his lifetime. He could have come into the world with huge fanfare and disrupted everything and likely even overthrown Rome in one fell swoop. Instead he opted for a much more subversive method of advancement; he’d take small steps at first, and soon, it would overtake the whole world–sort of the way that leaven overtakes a whole batch of flour.

Jesus only healed one woman in the synagogue that day (that we know of). Everyone watching, however, had the hope of the kingdom put in their hearts so that they began to believe that Jesus was really who he said he was. If Jesus could do this, then what else could he do? What other power did he have? And the leaven began to do its work.

It’s also important to note that Jesus’ metaphor of the leaven wasn’t always used in a positive way. He also uses a similar metaphor for the teaching of the religious leaders. At the beginning of Luke 12, he tells his disciples to beware of their leaven, because even a little bit could spoil the whole batch.

Every day we are faced with a choice with what sort of attitude we will have, what we are going to focus on, and where it is that we will put our trust. It doesn’t take much to get the kingdom working in us, but it also doesn’t take much to derail us. Let’s take care to keep putting the proper leaven in our hearts, so that it does its work and expands more than we ever thought possible.

The Architect

Matthew 27:24 - Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an architect. At very least I enjoyed drawing houses, which I assumed was basically what an architect did. Dream about a house, sketch it into existence, send it to the builder. Boom. House done.

In reality an architect has to think about far more than just what a building will look like. They have to be aware of how the building is built so that it is not just beautiful, but functional. They have to know what materials to use so that their design is safe and won’t collapse. They need to know how those materials can be arranged in such a way that the building ultimately achieves their vision and can be enjoyed for years to come.

A couple of years ago I learned that Jesus was most likely a stone mason. Like most of us, I grew up being taught and believing that Jesus was a carpenter. Yet the language used of Jesus, the locale in which he lived, and the materials available to him all seem to point towards Jesus working with stone. In my head, I took that to mean that Jesus was doing the same sort of work as a carpenter–building chairs, tables, and such–but he was just carving them out of stone rather than assembling them with wood. Then a friend suggested something different: Jesus was a builder of houses.

This was the most common occupation for a stone mason, and if that was true of Jesus, then Jesus would have been very familiar with the work of architects. In fact, he may have even been the architect. It makes a lot of sense when you read the New Testament and see how often Jesus refers to stones, buildings, houses, towers, and particularly, how to ensure they don’t collapse around you.

If we were applying this to our lives (and we should be), the simplistic thing to ask ourselves might be, “who is the architect of your life”, but that’s not really the right question. Asking ourselves who the architect is makes it seem as if there can be alternatives to the structure of our lives, but that’s not really accurate. God has already given us the blueprint. In Jesus story about the houses built on the rock and the sand, he makes clear that the same set of instructions was given to both builders. The problem was that one of the builders ignored the architect.

The better question is, “are we following the architect’s instructions?” As the Psalmist reminds us, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

Sabbath in the Storm

Matthew 8:24 - And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he [Jesus] was asleep.

I have a friend who has an innate ability to ask you probing questions you don’t want to answer. They aren’t bad questions, they’re good questions. She asks them so that you can reflect on the condition of your own soul. A few days ago, she used this gift on me. Here’s how the dialogue went:

“How’s it going?” She asked.

“It’s good”, I said. “I’ve been really busy. I said ‘yes’ to too many things and January was insane.”

Now, normally, this is where a conversation like this would end. Most of us don’t think about asking a follow-up question, or if we do, it would be for more information. Perhaps someone would ask about what sorts of things I was involved in. After all, it’s okay to be overly busy if all the things that we’re involved in are important. Being busy with important things is a badge of honor, isn’t it?

The conversation didn’t end, and she asked a follow-up question: “are you finding time to Sabbath?”

Ooof. Bomb-drop. Nothing makes a pastor feel worse than having to decide which of the Ten Commandments you want to violate. I could either lie (#9) and tell her that I have been sabbathing, or I could tell her that I’ve regularly been breaking the Sabbath (#4). I went with a half-truth: “Not as often as I should.” I felt like acknowledging that I knew I was breaking the Sabbath and that I should be resting more allowed me to save some face, as if it was somehow okay for me to violate God’s will for me as long as I knew I was doing it.

That’s what led me to this reminder in Matthew 8:24. Jesus is sleeping on a boat on the Sea of Galilee with his disciples and a massive storm whips up, the boat is taking on water, and no amount of commotion can wake him. Finally, the disciples go and shake him from his sleep. Before doing anything about the storm, or the boat, or the water, Jesus asks his own probing question: “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

Of course, Jesus goes on to calm the storm and the disciples marvel at this miracle and so we think that what Jesus was meant was, “Why didn’t you have faith in me that I could calm this storm and not let you die?” Certainly, that may have been part of what he meant. But the timing of his question points to another possibility of what he wanted his disciples to reflect on: “Why do you think I was able to sleep during the storm while you were afraid for your lives?”

The answer is that Jesus trusted his Father to take care of him–and take care of the storm–while he took the time to rest. Jesus’ faith allowed him to nap, even while there was important work to be done. And of course, it was the disciples lack of faith–and mine–that prevents resting. I’m too concerned with what will happen to the important work if I’m not doing it, forgetting that my Father is always paying attention so that once in a while, I don’t have to.

In fact, that’s the purpose of Sabbath. Do you have enough faith that God is taking care of business so you can go and rest, play, or generally just enjoy life? Or is the business that you are involved in more important than the business of Jesus?

A probing question, indeed.

Service With A Smile

Mark 9:35 - Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

In this small glimpse of Jesus teaching directly to the disciples we see Him correcting a trap that we can all feel pulled to at times. The disciples, who had been with Jesus for some time and had seen all the things he could do, were arguing over who was the greatest among them. Up to this point in the book of Mark, Jesus has done some pretty big stuff: He’s healed people, taught large crowds, calmed a storm, cast out demons, raised a dead girl, fed thousands with a little bread and fish, restored hearing and sight to separate people, and we’re only a few chapters in.

The question of who is the greatest among this group should be pretty obvious. It’s Jesus. Now, they might have been arguing for second place, but it shouldn’t matter with Jesus so far out in front, second place may as well be no place at all.

Instead of telling the disciples that who is greatest is a dumb argument to have (it is), He sits them down and tries to help them get their priorities straight. When we aim to be greater than the people we are around, we can lose sight of the help we should be providing. In the eyes of God, we are all the same: sinners in need of a savior.

As a church Restore would not exist, or at the very least Sunday morning would be a disaster, if it wasn’t for the hard work and dedication of our servant-hearted volunteers. I can only imagine the horror some of us would feel to walk in on a Sunday morning and learn that there is no coffee, or that we’re going to need to sing acapella, or that no one is going to watch your kids during service. Thankfully, we have amazing people who help make every week a success. And they don’t do it for the glory, they do it out of the love they have for the family of Restore.

If you serve, thank you so much for your willingness to come early, or stay late, or work with kids, or cook, or clean, or any of the myriad things that keep a church running. And if you don’t, maybe you could start. There are a number of low-pressure, low-commitment volunteer opportunities if you’re ready to dip your toe in the water of service.

No matter what, if you see someone serving, say thanks because service is what we are called to do.

January Blues

January always comes with a little bit of a holiday hangover. From the end of October through the first day of the new year we have so much fun, and activity, and parties, and presents, and time away from our mundane schedules to look forward to. Then January second shows up and we need to go to work, help kids get ready for school, and wonder what happened to all those delicious treats that were so readily available just a few days ago.

The switch from celebration to tribulation happens fast. One minute we’re surrounded by sparkling lights and bright colors and the next we’re in a sea of black coats pushing to survive the chilly walk from our car to the door. It’s hard to make that transition. However, we the lucky few have something that other people might not. For many Christmas is about sharing presents and spending time with family, but for those that call themselves Christian we revel in the news that a savior came to rescue us.

We don’t always feel happy, but we can remember the joy that lives in our hearts. In 1 Corinthians Paul reminds of the victory we can keep in mind. Partially quoting Hosea, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:55b-58, 

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

We know that the only result of sin is death but through the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ we can taste victory. We look at our lives that could be lost and know that Christ has the last word. Death is defeated, the man Jesus Christ laid death in his grave.

Even on a sunny day life can feel gray and cold. Whether you just have some post-holiday blues, life feels overwhelming, or you are dealing with a serious issue know that there is hope. Even when it feels far away remember that Jesus laid down his life because He loved you more than anyone in this world!

The Sun’s Out

Acts 3:19-21 - 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

This past weekend the weather was beautiful! The sun was shining, it was warm, and you could go outside without spending 10 minutes preparing. Definitely not what you’d expect for this area in mid-January, and just as quickly as it arrived, we have returned to the cold gray bleakness of winter. It’s the time of year when you just want to hide away: sitting in a cozy pile of blankets, sipping your favorite warm beverage, and eating carbs. 

Unfortunately, the demands of life require that we soldier on no matter the weather. This is just a picture of life as we know it, good days come and good days go, and throughout it all we go through the motions of living. But there is something special about a spring day popping up out of nowhere in the middle of winter that makes us all appreciate it a little bit more.

If it’s been sunny and 70 for the last six months, then you don’t notice another day that’s sunny and 70. However, when you feel the warmth on your skin for the first time after only feeling a chill you experience a brief rush of invigoration. Today is going to be different! And it is this feeling Peter is speaking about in Acts 3.

When we get bogged down by sin it can feel a lot like a bad winter. The days feel short and it seems like there is a lot less light than we would prefer. As we face times like these it can seem like the sun is never going to come out again. When the truth is that the sun has never left us and we need only repent, which literally means to turn around, and face a new direction and see the warmth of forgiveness that is available. 

We have a God that loves us deeply and wants us to feel the refreshing joy of restoration. It’s not easy and we all need reminders sometime. So, if you need it today, turn around the sun is still out there. And if you’re doing great look for someone around you that you can encourage.

Running Down the Stairs

Galatians 6:17 – From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen

I used to go to a church that had a very large sanctuary. There was an upper level and a lower level and on either side were shorter pews that filled out the sides along a staircase. Due to the seating, the stairs alternated between normal depth stairs and deeper ones to accommodate the pews. When I was old enough to know better, my friend and I thought it would be fun to run down the stairs and skip all of the small ones. It was a fairly long set of stairs and I picked up a little too much speed. When I reached the bottom, I smacked into the wall and slid down like I was in a cartoon. On the way down I cut my knee on the baseboard leaving a small scar that you can still see if my legs get tan. It was a dumb way to get injured however it’s a funny story to tell.

I’m sure we all have similar stories—one bad decision ends up leaving a lasting impression. Every scar has a story: some are funny, some are scary, and some are unbearably sad. Nevertheless, the marks we bear are evidence of our past. 

Paul in his letter to the Galatians is calling people to accept the grace that has been given through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Many people had been coming through saying, “to be a true Christian you must first become a Jew.” These false teachers were putting extra work between people and the good news of the Gospel. When the truth is, if we come without a thing, we’ve come with all we need.

Paul was bruised and beaten for the sake of the Gospel. He had a rich and impressive history and the scars to show the results of his devotion. And he wants us to know that we don’t need to follow that same path. The grace of God is free and easy and available to everyone. We just need to accept that we are loved. 

Remember, It's Christmas

Matthew 28:18-20 - “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It’s Christmas afternoon. The presents have been opened. Food has been eaten or is being prepared. Someone you know is realizing that their kid is more interested in the box than the expensive toy that came inside it. Extended family is commenting on how much someone has grown, and the weird uncle turns it into a self-deprecating fat joke. And today is the day to really settle in for a long winters nap.

Or maybe your day has been different. Maybe you’ve been so caught up in preparing for Christmas you forgot to celebrate it. Today is the day we celebrate the birth of our savior. An unimportant family had a baby in a cave and set Him in a feeding trough (if you had the same nativity set I had as a kid then you know that this made the donkey look very concerned). This birth that should be trivial, another kid to throw on the pile that is humanity, instead sent a shockwave through time. This is the point where everything changed.

An angel told some shepherds who were working in the nearby fields to come check out the big event that just happened. Shepherds who were pretty low on the social hierarchy ladder got to be the first witness to a turning point in history. Then a few months/years later some smart dudes came from far away to meet Him because they understood how important He was and would be.

Now 2019 is almost done. The next time you get another one of these emails we will be 1/5th into the 21stcentury. Time is flying and we are busier and more distracted than ever before. So, if you have spent too much time preparing this year take a minute for yourself (60 literal seconds), and just reflect on all the great things that God has done this year. Sure, you’ve faced challenges but for now what has gone right? Even if it is just for you, just for now, take a moment to celebrate.

“…behold, I am with you always…”

Merry Christmas

Rejoice!

Isaiah 25:9 It will be said on that day “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

This is part of a prophesy found in Isaiah 25. The whole chapter is focused on how the Lord will protect His people and destroy those that would seek to harm them. He will gather his people on a mountain to feast on rich food and well-aged wine. He will swallow up death forever and will wipe the tears from our faces.

With imagery like this it’s easy to see how Jesus’s appearance on the scene would confuse people. They all thought that the prophesies all pointed to this Superman™ type character that would be holding a sword and lead an army to destroy all their oppressors. They thought the coming kingdom would be royalty with vast land and fortresses. An Earthly kingdom of might and power crushing all who would oppose them with an iron fist!

However, what arrived was a baby. Not even a royal baby, or a kid born to a connected family. From the outside Jesus was just a normal kid born to a normal family. Maybe people close to them knew the “scandal” of how Mary was with child before the marriage, but many people could chalk that up to “kids these days” shenanigans.

An unremarkable kid born to an unimportant family would change the world. The people who heard the prophesy of Isaiah were thinking about a revolution of might and power. But Jesus came to start a revolution of the mind, a revolution of the heart, and a revolution of the spirit. The world doesn’t change, people change.

Jesus commandeers expectations. Anytime we want to put Him in a box and say, “this is how I’ve always done, and this is how I always will do it,” Jesus comes along and tells us that we’ve been called to more. Jesus came as the savior of the world, but he didn’t come in the way anyone expected it. He came with love instead of the sword.

How can we be glad and rejoice in his salvation?

Matthew 1:6 - And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…

A hilarious suggestion popped up on my news feed the other day: extending the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The rationale was that there needed to be more than one month between family get togethers.

We can probably all relate to that sentiment, at least for a couple of weeks following one of these events. Of course, the hope is that over time the bad memories will fade and only the good ones will remain. Most of the time we forget about the fights and the political discussions (disagreements) and who did what to whom and we end up remembering that, when it comes right down to it, we really do love these crazy people we call family.

Over a long period of time, we tend to scrub our history of negativity even further. I recently went down a family-tree rabbit hole on ancestry.com. The old boat manifests and birth certificates that the software could find didn’t really give me much info other than that a former-relative existed; I had to fill in the rest of the details myself. With each new connection the program found, I imagined that the person lived a life filled with adventure and intrigue, faithfulness and righteousness. It probably wasn’t true, but I certainly didn’t want to consider that I might have a few bad seeds in my family tree.

Matthew does just the opposite when he is recording Jesus’ family tree. He makes a special effort to include the bad seeds. This remark about David is case-in-point: in case anyone had forgotten, David’s son Solomon was born to Uriah’s wife. How did that happen? Well, long story short (Matthew is reminding us) David abused his power and impregnated another man’s wife before killing that man to cover it up. Yeah, that’s what Jesus’ ancestors were like.

Matthew is so intentional to include details like this because he wants us to know that these are the types of people that Jesus comes from and comes to, but I think there is another reason as well: he wants us to think about how even the people who screw up the most are still used by God for his redemptive purposes. David, despite all his flaws, was the King “after God’s own heart.” Solomon, the offspring of that otherwise hugely embarrassing error, becomes the son of the promise.

Yes, our families are probably messed up, and so are we. Matthew reminds us that Jesus’ family was not much different, and if they can be used for God’s redemptive purposes, then so can ours. Maybe that’s the reminder we need before we do it all over again and get together with them in just a couple of weeks. And that is really good news.

Finding Shiloh

Genesis 49:10 (KJV) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the unexpected, largely because that’s the title of this coming weeks sermon (teaser). I’ve also been thinking a lot about the word Shiloh, largely because that’s the name of the dog our family recently acquired. (I promised myself I wasn’t going to be one of those people who was always talking about their dog, but I digress.)

When the Israelites moved into the land of Canaan, God told them to put the tabernacle in the city of Shiloh. Excavations of the site in Israel have revealed that it was heavily fortified prior to the time of the Israelites, but by the time they got there the walls had crumbled and it was a relatively nondescript location. Shiloh has been translated in a lot of different ways, but basically it means a place of peace or tranquility (Think “Pleasantville”).  It may have seemed like a strange location for the very dwelling of God, but it wasn’t the city that gave the dwelling significance, it was the other way around: Shiloh meant something because it was the place of the Lord’s presence.

The other time Shiloh is mentioned is as a proper name. Jacob is giving his final blessings to his sons and the word Shiloh is used in his blessing to his son, Judah. Don’t get me started on the irony here: the dog we got for Judah was named Shiloh before we got her (providence?). A sceptre is the mark of royalty; what Jacob is saying is that the royal line will not pass from the line of Judah until Shiloh appears. In most of our English bibles it is translated as something like “to the one to whom it belongs”. The point is that long before the monarchy in Israel, when David (from the tribe of Judah) would be crowned king, Jacob prophesied to his sons that there would be a Shiloh.

That Shiloh, the Messiah, was also quite nondescript. He wasn’t much to look at. Isaiah’s prophecies essentially tell us that he won’t be much to write home about. It was the fact that Jesus was the place where God dwelt among his people that gave him significance. And so, it is the thing that gives us significance.

We can either choose to think of ourselves as relatively nondescript, maybe not that special, or not that important. Maybe more of us should take that humble attitude. Yet when we remember that we are now the temple of God, that we are now the place where God dwells, we are given a significance far beyond what our humanity might suggest.

I might even say that it is indeed unexpected.

Dallas House 3

Hebrews 12:12-15 12  - Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled…

Happy Thanksgiving! A few times while living in Dallas, either I wasn’t able to make it home, or my parents were out of the country during Thanksgiving, so a friend introduced me to a new tradition: Steaksgiving. Steaksgiving is similar to Thanksgiving except you skip the turkey and most of the sides, get the best steak you can afford as a poor student, and grill it to perfection. It was a great tradition. 

The year of the house was different, the thought of putting even a small grill in that jungle of an overgrown backyard sent headlines like, “Thanksgiving Ruined for An Entire Neighborhood as Blaze Enters Second Day,” to my mind. So, we improvised. We gathered our steaks, plates, and equipment and headed over to our friend’s apartment complex to use the community grills there. Our friend was out of town, but I knew the gate code. Maybe meals taste better when they come with a small hint of trespassing.

If I’m honest I don’t remember how good the steak was or what we had on the side. I just remember the fun I had spending time with friends, hanging out, and eating in a random community space. 

Tomorrow and for the rest of the year, you will probably be spending some time around a table sharing food, and stories, and laughs with friends and family. Wherever you find yourself, do your best to remember who you are. As the people of hope we should strive for peace with everyone. Even the people who think family meals are the best time to talk about politics or take passive-aggressive digs at your life situation.

See to it that no one fails to see the grace of God from you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dallas House 2

As I talked about last weekl, the house I lived in my last year in Dallas was pretty bad. Another problem was that we had rats. Big, fat, gross rats. We learned this after two events. First my roommate had a flat of Gatorade on the floor of the pantry/laundry room, a rat chewed through the plastic bottle and spilled liquid electrolytes all over the floor. He thought the bottle just broke when he put it down, so he didn’t tell anyone until later. Second, and the sign that we had a real problem, I went into the pantry to get bread to make a sandwich. However, my bread was not where I left it on the TOP shelf, it was on the floor with a chunk eaten out of the side.

I walked out and told my roommates that we had a problem. At first, we thought it was mice. Small, cute, and easy to trap. But my small humane trap failed so my roommate got the biggest old school trap I’d ever seen. Again, we were young, this was the first time we had ever faced a home invasion problem like this. After a week, he had taken out three big ones. As bad as it was it gets grosser from there but if you want that part I can tell you about it some other time.

In all the time we lived there, the only rats we saw were the ones we trapped. We saw the evidence, but we never saw the cause. CS Lewis uses rats to describe our own sinfulness. Most of us know the difference between right and wrong, and when we sin it is often out of choosing selfish desires over what is right. 

Lewis describes his sin this way, “When I … try to reckon up the sins of the day, …the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered…. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself.” Often it is all too easy to find an excuse for the wrongs we’ve done when we are caught off guard. But Lewis suggests that when we are caught off guard is when we are our truest selves. 

When we stomped into the pantry, the rats heard us coming and scurried away. To catch them we would need to use caution and precision. It’s the same with our own sinfulness. It’s something that will always be there, and we must take the time to slow down and address it if we ever hope to improve the people we are when we are caught off guard.

Let us honestly pray Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”