Sunday, April 25, 2010

How to Give - by Luke Gauntt

How do you decide what to put in the collection plate on Sunday? I remember the younger days when I would optimistically pull my wallet out of my back pocket and slowly open it up. More often than not, there was nothing in it. If I did see bills, I always hoped for a couple of ones...and prayed that I didn't have just a five or a ten...cause that causes a dilemma - give it all or keep it all???
With the invention of Dave Ramsey, we are now able to calculate exactly how much we should write a check for each week. But I know that there are still emotional struggles when the collection plate passes by. I know that there are people in pews struggling with how much they should put in...will they be able to pay all of the weeks bills if they put in what they wanted to put in...? So, for all of us who struggle, I offer this solution to how to give that I learned from my son, Luke, this morning.
Before the offering was about to be taken, Angie pulled out her wallet. In the bill section, she had three ones. She quietly pulled them out and gave them to the older three children. But Luke, sitting in her lap, didn't get a dollar to put in the collection plate. So after passing out the bills, Angie opened up the change pocket on her wallet and asked Luke if he wanted to get some money out to go in the collection plate. He quickly stuck one fist in and grabbed as many coins as he could. After retrieving a handful of coins, he stuck his other fist into the coin pocket and again retrieved a handful of coins. Then, he dove back in with his first fist, still filled with coins, and tried to pull out even more coins.
That's how to give.
Life as I know it is lived abundantly when we keep reaching deep down inside so that we can give more and more and more.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

That Day

“I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)
Toward the close of the Passover meal that was transformed into the meal that we celebrate today, Jesus gave his followers hope for the future as he promised that he would drink the fruit of the vine with them in the Father’s kingdom. We tend to focus on that part of the sentence, reminding one another that Jesus is coming back for us and that we will be with him throughout eternity. It is good to encourage one another in this manner…in fact, Paul tells us to do so in I Thessalonians 4:16-18 as he writes,
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
But these words also imply something else, in the meantime Jesus is absent. Jesus said that he would not drink the fruit of the vine again until he drank it in God’s kingdom. In the upper room, those who drank the cup heard that Jesus would not be feasting with them any more for a while. His absence would soon be painfully real to them. They would be facing the world without him from now on. Yes, he had promised the spirit, and the spirit did come, and Jesus is with us in spirit today, but he is not physically present as he once was.
The disciples who ate in that upper room would face the pain of a cruel world. They would be persecuted. They would suffer. And they would ultimately die – most of them as martyrs. The fact that we continue to gather around this table reminds us of the same thing. In this world we will face trouble and persecution, pain and loss…our Savior is presently absent. We cannot escape that fact.
But he will return. And we will go home. And we will feast with him. And we will never again face pain or loss or suffering of any kind.
In the meantime, we gather around this table, remembering the pain that Jesus went through on our behalf so that we could be cleansed of our sins. And we also gather around this table to wait for his return, when all the pain will be washed away with our sins and we will be brought into the glory of the kingdom of God.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

God's Plan for Your Life

“I know God has a plan for my life – I just wish I knew what it was.” We are quick to quote Jeremiah 29:11, and even quicker to allow that promise of God to bring us to a state of anxiety because we are afraid that we’ll mess it up somehow. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We read that and immediately envision one single solitary path among the millions of possible paths…and start thinking that if we miss that one single path we will miss out on God’s blessings.
I know. I’ve been there. Worrying and worrying about all the “what if’s” in my life. Using all kinds of bad theology to support my anxiety.
So, let me share a little bad news and then lead you to a new way to look at God’s plan for your life. Here’s the bad news…if we are going to claim Jeremiah 29:11 as a personal promise that God is making to each one of us, then it seems we must also claim Jeremiah 29:10 as a personal promise that God is making to each one of us. Listen to this bit of encouraging news, “This is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.’” If we are going to claim the good news that God wants to prosper and not harm us, give us hope and a future, then we must realize that he also keeps his promise to give us over to Babylon for a time so that we can learn to repent of our waywardness. The good news of Jeremiah 29:11 comes after the Israelites have spent 70 years in exile.
On top of this, God is not making this promise to an individual – he is making it to his collective people, the nation that he sent into exile because they had turned their backs on him and worshiped other gods. I will not say that we can’t take this as a promise to each of us – I do believe that this is God’s desire for each one of us. However, it is important to realize that even though he brought his people back out of exile, there were many who still suffered during that time. Not everyone got all of the exciting blessings that we imagine when we read Jeremiah 29:11 for ourselves.
Now, back to where I was heading when I started writing this – God’s plan for our lives. We all tend to get anxious about whether we are living the life we are “supposed” to live – did we make the right career choice, did we marry the right spouse, did we make the right move? May I direct your mind to another scripture as you think about all of these issues?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
These are the words we read in Proverbs 3:5-6. If I read them thinking about which path I should take (out of the millions of available paths), I find not one single path that is pleasing to God, but a lifestyle that is pleasing to God. And when that lifestyle is pleasing to God, then he will take care of making sure the path is straight. It isn’t about choosing the right career, its about working for the Lord in whatever work you find to do. It isn’t about choosing the “right” spouse, but about making the decision to love your spouse in the same way that Christ loves the church. It isn’t about making all the right moves, but about serving God in those moves.
Live as I know it is full when we trust God with all our heart and let him worry about making the paths straight for us.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The New Covenant

(Here is another communion meditation from a few years ago... Hope it helps us to remember the reason we gather together on Sundays...)

Jesus was supposed to remind his followers of the exodus. He was supposed to tell the story about how the Jews had been enslaved in Egypt and how God had brought them out of slavery with a mighty hand. He was supposed to talk about the angel killing the firstborn of those not protected by lamb’s blood and about the Israelites leaving Egypt in a hurry and about crossing the sea on dry ground and about manna from heaven.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Jesus took the unleavened bread and defined it as his body. Then he took the cup and instructed all of his disciples to drink from it explaining, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26)
The disciples were expecting to hear the exodus story from long ago, the story that they knew so well. Instead they heard a new exodus story. The story Jesus tells is not a story about God demonstrating his powerful mighty arm through plagues and death. This exodus story is not about placing the blood of a lamb on the exterior of a house. This story is not about leaving in a hurry and having to eat unleavened bread. It is not a story of crossing the sea on dry ground. The story Jesus has for those who will follow him is not a story about the past – it is the story of a new covenant established with his blood.
The new exodus story is the story of God displaying his power through unending love, unimaginable grace, and unmerited favor to all those who will follow him. It is the story of being immersed in Jesus’ blood so that our entire lives are covered by his blood. The story is about leaving slavery to sin and accepting the life that he offers.
This morning we take part in the new story of the exodus. We pause to remember how God worked to bring us to where we are today. We pause to remember the love of Christ and his sacrifice. We pause to look forward to the day when he returns and we are taken home with him. We pause to be thankful.
This is our story. We were slaves to sin, but God chose to bring us out of sin. He sent his son to rescue us from those sins. He offers us forgiveness through the blood of his son which was shed as he died on a cross. He offers us new life through the same power that raised Jesus from the grave.
Let us remember this story as we eat this meal with thankfulness and as we live our lives in a way that brings glory and honor to him.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Video Game Church, Part 4

This is a long article. You might want to set aside some time to think about it or print it off and read it later. Please don't stop half-way through and not return to it. If it is helpful, feel free to share it with others in your church - either by referring them to this blog or by printing the articles off and handing them out. There is no copyright on any of this - use it as you see fit. And may God bless you as you seek to work in His kingdom today.
Steve

So what does a church look like when it is immersed? As strange as it may seem, I have actually seen glimpses of an immersed church. Perhaps we can use a glimpse to help inform our vision of what an immersed church looks like.
The immersed church I am envisioning is a small group on a mission trip to Mexico. The purpose of the trip is to work on building a church building. Each person has dedicated a week of their life to go on this trip. Each person has paid their own way to go on this trip. Each person knows going in that the week will be a physically demanding week – a week that they will use skills that they do not possess on the van ride into Mexico. But each person is willing.
On Monday morning, the job for the week is laid out. By the end of the week, there is a point that this group must reach so that the following week another group can continue building from that point and work on the next phase of the building. The person who has the master plan in mind helps the leaders of the mission team see what all needs to be done during that week. From that point on, everyone has the same objective in mind – to complete the task for that week. But even though the objective is the same, each person begins to take on different jobs and tasks to make sure that the objective is complete.
During the course of the week there will be difficulties that arise – obstacles that must be overcome in order to complete the objective. But in my experience, these difficulties do not destroy the team as long as the entire team is motivated to accomplish the same task. Instead, the team will grow extremely close during that week. The hard work and reliance upon one another draws them closer to each other. They learn to share the work load. They learn that there are moments when they will be strong when others are weak, and they learn to lend a hand. They also learn that there are times when they are weak and have to accept someone else’s hand to help them with their task. Together they will doubt whether they will be able to accomplish all that they are called on to do that week. But together they will work together until that task is accomplished and they are successful.
During that week, they will also share in true worship experiences. They will sing songs together each evening. They will pray together each evening. They will think about scriptures together each evening. And during these times they will draw closer and closer to God as they learn to depend upon Him each day for the strength to do the things they have gone to Mexico to do.
The mission team is an immersed church. They are completely immersed in what they are asked to do for one week. They will work as long and as hard as they need to in order to accomplish that task. Obstacles and difficulties are overcome as they work together to solve problems. And worship becomes a relational experience. This has been my experience when I have been on mission trips.
So if this is a glimpse of an immersed church, how can we make this normative rather than anecdotal? How can we make our own congregations immersed bodies who operate in this manner rather than stagnant organizations that meet once or twice a week? Here are some of my conclusions based on my experiences…
1. Commitment from each member.
To go back to the image of kids playing video games – I’ve noticed that the kids who aren’t actively playing the game aren’t immersed in it like the ones with their hands on the controllers. For a church to completely immersed in the work of being the church, each member must have their hands on the controllers – they must be active and committed to the vision of that congregation.
2. Purpose/Mission.
What is the mission of your congregation? Do you know? Do you have a role that you are seeking to fill in your community? If not, your congregation may be struggling to find an identity. The members of your congregation might seem less committed than you think they should. It is hard to commit to a vague notion. Churches (and probably this would be the task of the leadership of the congregation) must do the hard work of looking in scripture to find what churches are supposed to be. Then they must do the hard work of looking in their community and seeing what the community needs. And then that church must do the hard work of beginning to meet the real needs of the people in that community.
3. Biblical unity.
Here’s the hard reality – God didn’t establish one mold for all Christians to be poured into. He didn’t give you the same talents he gave me. If our job in Mexico was to level a large section of land so that we could pour a four inch concrete floor with columns for the walls, and everyone decided that our job was to tie rebar – we could not accomplish our task for the week. For some reason that makes sense when we talk about building a building, but it seems like a foreign language when we try to apply that to the church. We tend to have in mind that we must all think and act alike. For a church to truly be immersed in the things we need to be immersed in, we must each learn to be the part of the body that God has called us to be. (I Corinthians 12)
4. Face difficulties and obstacles together.
Too often, whether in work settings or churches or homes, difficulties and obstacles become a reason to become angry with someone else rather than an opportunity to work together to become stronger. My focus in this article is the church, so I am mainly thinking about how the church reacts when something happens that some members do not like. It is time that we mature to the point that we can share our concerns with one another without judging. And as we share or learn of concerns, we must discipline ourselves to commit ourselves to working with the rest of the congregation to find a solution. It is only when the entire body works together to overcome an obstacle that the entire body can overcome an obstacle. If we are not all working together some will hurdle the obstacle while others get stuck. When that happens we are no longer a unified body.
5. Learn how to be strong.
Being strong does not mean dominating. It means that a person has the ability to help someone else who is weak at the moment. Being strong is not a permanent condition or a universal condition. I am strong some times while not strong at other times. I am strong in some areas, but not in others. We need to learn to recognize our strengths and use them to benefit others.
6. Learn how to be weak.
Being weak does not mean that we are less than the strong. It merely means that we need some help to face the situations we are in. But being weak is so offensive to us that we would rather suffer for weeks or months or years rather than accept the help that is offered by someone else. We need to learn that its OK to lean on someone else for a time. And during that time we need to learn how to serve someone else – so that when we are strong, we can assist someone who is weak. Some loads are too heavy to lift by ourselves. If we are stubborn and insist on lifting it ourselves, we will only injure ourselves…and then the load will fall on even more people to lift.
7. Sacrifice our own desires in order to meet the objective.
On a mission trip where we work to build a church building, each person has a desire during the day to return to the hotel. Sitting in an air conditioned room or relaxing in a pool is much more desirable than hauling off more debris or hauling a dozen more mixer loads of cement in five gallon buckets. But if the job is to be done – the desires must be sacrificed. We live in a world that says our desires are more important than the objective. It is time to turn that around.
8. Worship in Spirit and Truth.
Worshiping in Spirit and Truth is more than getting the acts right. It is the worship of the heart whose sole desire is to praise God. I have often found that the act of worship is most pleasing when I have immersed myself in the work God has placed before me. Showing up at a building to sing a few songs and endure a message is rarely worship if the way we live our lives the six days prior to that hour reflect very little about the relationship we claim to have with God. Tex Williams once said, “If you want to improve your sex life, you need to improve the other twenty-three and a half hours of the day. If you want to improve your Sunday worship, you need to improve the other six days of worship.”
9. Learn to rely on God for strength to accomplish our tasks.
This is a hard lesson to learn. We often pray for God to work and then expend all of our energy trying to show him how he needs to work. We must practice listening to the Spirit and feeling the urgings of the Spirit as he guides us. We must realize that “success” is up to God, and that it is our job to do the good deeds that he has prepared for us to do (lessons from Nehemiah 2 and Ephesians 2). How much time do churches spend worrying? And how much time do they spend walking in the faith and assurance that God is working?
10.
I really should have a tenth point here so that this could be some sort of top ten list. So feel free to add a point and send it to me. But to have a complete list might give us the sense that we could accomplish all of this if we follow a certain pattern of steps. This is not the case. All of this is said to illustrate the simple point that if we will learn to live like the Bible calls us to live we will be effective and productive in the work God has called us to do.

Life as I know it is a lot like a mission trip. And the trip will only be successful when the whole church realizes that we have a mission to do and each member of that church begins to work toward that goal.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Video Game Church, Part 3


Immersed in the lifestyle of Jesus. Immersed in the practice of the early church. Now for the third immersion – immersed in the Holy Spirit.
What??? A Church of Christ minister speaking of the immersion of the Spirit? How can that be?

Listen to what Jesus says:
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give food gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” – Luke 11:11-13 (NIV)
Has the church failed to ask for that which we need – the Holy Spirit? Have we used our human strength to nullify the working of the Spirit of God in our congregations? Have we used our intelligence so much that we have puffed ourselves up to the point that we do not realize our weakness and how much we need to ask the Holy Spirit to indwell our churches once again?
If so, is it any wonder that people are leaving dissatisfied with the church? For if the church is not empowered by the Holy Spirit, then the church has nothing to offer other than the things the world offers. If Christians are not guided daily by the Holy Spirit and teaching others to live under the guidance of that Spirit, the church is weak and ineffective in producing Christ-like followers who make a difference in the world around them.

So what does it look like to be immersed in the Holy Spirit? Should we expect the miraculous manifestations that the early church experienced? Would it bother you if I said, “maybe”? I don’t believe that those manifestations are common or necessary to prove that one is immersed in the Holy Spirit, but if God chooses to work in that way, should I stand in opposition to that?
Here is what I have in mind when I speak of Christians and the church being immersed in the Spirit. We must begin to be spiritual humans and not merely humans. We must begin to think about spiritual matters. We must realize what the Bible clearly teaches – that the things of the world don’t matter while the Spiritual matters are of everlasting importance. Being immersed in the Spirit means that we practice keeping in step with the Spirit, as Paul urges the Christians to do in Galatians 5:25. Being immersed in the Spirit means that the church and the members of the church develop the fruits of the Spirit in their lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Before you write this off and say that this is just pious talk or unnecessary, let me ask you one more question. How much time do you spend seeking the Holy Spirit? Have you asked God for the Holy Spirit like a child asking your parent for the food you need to survive? Or are you sitting idly by thinking that mere church attendance is a sufficient demonstration of the life of Christ?
Life as I know it is best when we do our best to keep in step with the Spirit. I have not fully realized what this means, but I am growing and maturing – and God is faithful to give us good things when we ask… so I’m learning to ask.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Holy Moments

I've learned that the quietness of Sunday mornings can be special when interrupted by a child. This morning it was my youngest, Luke, who quietly walked into the den. I was sitting in silence thinking about the lessons and sermons of the day and straining to hear God's voice over my own thoughts. Luke snuggled up next to me, never saying a word. As the pre-dawn light faintly illuminated the den, I noticed his fingers beating out their own rhythm - following their own pathway to illustrate whatever was happening in his mind.
We continued sitting there for fifteen or twenty minutes - neither of us saying anything. Him snuggled up to me, me watching his hand and thinking of how small it is compared to mine (how large it is compared to the tiny hand it used to be - how small it is compared to what I anticipate it will be one day). I fought back the stinging in my eyes as I continued to watch the rhythm of his ever-growing hand... And I thought about how God looks at me and longs for me to snuggle up beside him in the quiet still of the early morning.
The silence was eventually broken when Luke got up to go get the Nintendo DS. But he came back and sat right beside me and started to play. And I found myself enjoying just sitting there watching him play his game - even though I cared nothing about the game he was playing. And again, I thought about God looking at me and longing for me to sit beside him as I play my games (which may not interest him in the least).
And without my realizing it - I had heard God's voice.
Life as I know it is best when I snuggle up close to God.

Drink From It, All of You

While Jesus and the disciples were making their way to Jerusalem for the last time, the mother of James and John approached Jesus, bowed down, and asked that her sons might be promoted above everyone else in God’s kingdom and that they might sit on either side of Jesus. After their mother made this request, Jesus addressed the brothers by asking them if they could drink the cup Jesus was going to drink. They readily agreed that they could drink the cup. I believe they argued this way because they thought it would assure them of their place at Jesus’ side. Then Jesus told them that they would drink of his cup, but that he could not guarantee their place at his side in the kingdom – that decision would be up to God alone.
Somehow the ten heard about the favor asked of Jesus by James and John and their mom. Their power play led to division among the twelve. Ten were against two. The NIV uses the word “indignant” to describe the reaction of the ten to the twelve. The desire of James and John to be promoted, to drink the cup of Christ, divided the group.

A few days later the twelve found themselves in a room together with Jesus eating a very important meal. During the meal, Jesus revealed that there was a traitor among them. Judas then left the group at some point to gather the posse that would arrest Jesus. During that same meal, Jesus took a loaf of bread, defined it as his body, and gave it to the disciples to eat.
“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.’ ” (Matthew 26:27)
Together they would all drink the cup that night. No one would be excluded. No one would be elevated above the rest. No one more important, no one less. The cup of Christ is an equalizing force. It humbles the exalted and exalts the humble. It unites us all together as one group. Around the table there is no discrimination, for we are all forgiven sinners who have been saved by the power of the blood of Christ.

I invite you to take your mind back to the cross this morning. Remember the sacrifice that was paid. Remember the cup of suffering that Jesus drank on our behalf. Remember the drink he took on our behalf as he tasted the wrath that our sins demanded. As we take part in this feast, let us be thankful that we have the opportunity to drink from the cup of Christ. And in our thanksgiving, let us remember that all who drink from the cup drink from it equally.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Video Game Church, Part 2


As a member of the Church of Christ denomination, I am required, when asked, to tell you that my favorite book of the Bible is the book of Acts. We love to study Acts. And every study of Acts that I remember sitting through focused on immersion. The theme of the study is always Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Incidentally, I am also required to list this as my favorite Bible verse.) The study of Acts in Churches of Christ typically bounces from one conversion story to the next emphasizing the centrality of immersion in each story.
Don’t let my tongue in cheek attitude lead you to think that I don’t believe in immersion for the forgiveness of sins. I believe that this is what is taught in the Bible and it is a practice that the church must continue. The point I want to make is that we may have focused on the act of immersion for the forgiveness of sins and missed the real story of the church in Acts. Yes, baptism is essential – but immersion also seems to be crucial to the earliest church.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and good, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)
Would it be OK if I changed the word “devoted” to “immersed”? Going back to the image of my children immersed in video games, this is the point that I want to make - the early church immersed itself with being the church. They immersed themselves in the teachings of the apostles. They immersed themselves in fellowship. They immersed themselves in breaking bread together. They immersed themselves in prayer. These are the four pillars of the early church.
For the new convert in Acts 2, baptism literally led them to a new life and, perhaps more importantly, to a new way of life. Christianity was not a religion with set times to come together each week. Christianity was a new community, a new culture, a new ordering of society. About this new society, Chris Seay writes, “Although this young and thriving church had no political influence, property, fame, or wealth, it was powerful. Its power was centered in living the gospel. The people valued one another more than any possessions. They came together as a large, passionate, healthy family where it was natural to pray and share all of life together.” (Seay, Chris; The Dust Off Their Feet: Lessons from the First Church; Thomas Nelson Publishers; Copyright 2006; p. 10.)
Notice the characteristics of this new society into which they were immersed. Together. Common. Gave (to anyone as he had need – not as a part of a worship service). Every day. Together. Broke bread (no distinction given as to whether this was a common meal or the Eucharist). Together. Glad. Sincere. Praising. Enjoying. Daily.
When I picture this earliest of churches, I see them as intent on being Christians as my kids are at playing video games. All outside distractions become minuscule as they immerse themselves into this new reality of Christianity. Is this the inner longing of those who leave church in search of Christ? Is this what will bring church-goers out of their dazed zombiness?
Life as I know it is best when we are immersed in the new way of Christian life.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Video Game Church, Part 1


My kids become engrossed in video games. I guess anyone with kids knows that engrossed is a bit of an understatement. They become zombie-esque while they play video games. Anything other than the sights and the sounds of the game fade into oblivion before reaching their senses. I call to them, knowing they are impervious to my call. I call again and again. And finally, after a slight escalation in volume, their heads begin to turn away from the game…and yet their eyes remain fixed on the screen. They mumble, “yeah,” but have no idea what has been said. They are immersed in the game.

Over the last couple of years I have heard more and more Christians express their dissatisfaction with Christianity. The religion of Christianity has turned many away from their local church in order to pursue Christ on their own. Those with a burning desire to follow Christ find themselves stifled in the midst of others who claim to have that exact same desire. One by one, Christ-followers seem to be waking up from a zombie-like trance and seeing the glazed over looks in the pews next to them (or you can insert your Matrix image here)…and they are no longer satisfied with continuing Christianity as it has been handed to them.
What, if anything, has gone wrong with Christianity? And what, if anything, can be done to “fix” it?
Before I embark on answering these questions, let me admit that I am no expert. I have not started any successful program to solve the problems I perceive. These are just my thoughts and observations as I strive to live my life to glorify God.
In Romans 6 Paul addressed a potential problem in the church – people believing that since they had been immersed they could sin as much as they wanted to sin and allow more of God’s grace to cover them. (Whether we want to admit it or not, I fear that our current view of grace is nothing more than what Paul was addressing in this passage.) In order to combat this way of thinking, Paul says:
…don’t you know that all of us who were immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into his death? We were therefore buried with him through immersion into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:3-4 – Note: I changed the NIV’s translation from “baptized/baptism” to “immersed/immersion.” The Greek word means to dip or immerse.)
Perhaps we have forgotten that we were immersed into Christ. Or perhaps our view of our baptism has been a limited view of our immersion. On October 15, 1982, I walked down the outside aisle of the church auditorium and filled out a card stating that I wanted to be baptized. Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I knew that this was a turning point in my life. I vividly remember looking out over the people gathered that Wednesday night as Ray Melton said, “this is your new family.” Then he plunged me beneath the water and I came up a new person. The tears of joy continued the rest of that night.
If October 15, 1982 becomes the date of an event in my life, then I missed the point of my immersion. That would be like going through all the events of May 28, 1994 and then devoting myself to spend an hour a week with my wife…unless there was something better to do. If our immersion becomes an event instead of a complete immersion into the death of Christ and the new life that it brings, then Christianity is doomed to suffer the fate of adherents walking around with glazed over eyes wondering why they put so much effort into dressing up on Sunday mornings…and finding something better to do than spend an hour a week with the one to whom they pledged themselves.
Life as I know it is best when we are completely immersed in Christ.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Roll Back the Stone

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. Matthew 28:1-4

Let me ask you to think about a simple question this morning: What if the stone had never been rolled back so that the Marys could see inside the empty tomb? What if the angel had never appeared on that Sunday morning? What if Mary and Mary had never gone in to see where Jesus’ body had been laid?
If those things had not happened, we would not be gathered here this morning to remember what Jesus did on our behalf. Without the empty tomb and witnesses to the empty tomb, we would have no hope of resurrection or eternal life. The apostles and early disciples would never have preached the message of Jesus Christ, they would have never endured the persecution they endured, they would not have done all the things they did… Peter, Andrew, James and John would have gone back to fishing. Matthew would have gone back to his tax collector’s booth. Simon would have gone back to scheming ways to overthrow the Romans. And you and I would have never heard about the Son of God coming to earth.
We gather this morning because the stone was rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. We gather this morning because the Lord is risen. We gather this morning because he will come again.
So as we eat this bread and drink this cup, let us remember the hope that he has given us. Let us remember the power we have through him. Let us remember the calling we have received to be his people and continue the mission of reaching out to those in this world who need to know of the risen Savior.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

A Fool's Holiday


There’s a spider on your shoulder. No, really. Look! Its big and hairy and its crawling toward your face!!! … April Fool’s!!! Hahahaha
That works a lot better in person. Especially when the person is under five years old. Yes, its April 1st – April Fool’s Day. The “holiday” for simple-minded pranksters (self included). A celebration of silliness. Oh, and lest we forget, its also the Thursday before Easter – a real, honest to goodness, actual holiday that celebrates the resurrection of the Son of God. One of my facebook friends powerfully noted the intersection of the two with this status update: “I’m confused whether this is the day that we play pranks on people or if this is the day where we remember the last supper and Jesus praying and being arrested…”
It seems ironic that April Fool’s Day should occur during the “Holy Week.” At first glance, what could be further apart than a celebration of fools and the celebration of the Risen Lord? But look again… Maybe this is THE perfect time for April Fool’s Day to occur.
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” – I Corinthians 1:18-25
Later on in the same letter, Paul, in a completely different context, says, “We are fools for Christ…” (I Corinthians 4:10)
Life as I know it is best lived as a fool…for Christ. Celebrate the new life that you have in Christ this weekend. Celebrate the fact that he rose from the dead. And when someone calls you a fool, just look them in the eye and gratefully say, “thank you for noticing – can I tell you about the one who made me this way?”
And if you don’t yet have that new life in Christ – get in touch with me. I’d love to help you find what I’ve found. You can find me on facebook or leave a comment and I will get in touch with you.