“And David
danced before the Lord with all his might.”
2 Samuel 6:14a
I
don’t know what possessed us. It
happened three or four Christmases ago.
We were at Ben’s home. One morning
Kyah was wearing fake antlers on her backside.
I had some on my head. Music was
playing. I don’t remember if the song
was “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” or some other tune. All of a sudden, Kyah and I started hopping
around, jumping up and down, just generally acting goofy to the music. Pictures were taken. You can see one as the cover for this
blog. It was the kind of thing that if
Kyah and I did it out in public, we would be told to stop. But that Christmas season my granddaughter
and I were just having fun… celebrating in a very silly way. It became known as “the reindeer dance” and
Kyah still talks about it.
In
fact she mentioned it the other day on skype.
That got me to thinking, what is it about Christmas that got us dancing
and acting silly? In my serious pastoral mind I wondered, “Is
there any precedent for this in the Scripture?
Well in fact there is. There is
the passage that is the text for today’s blog.
In 2 Samuel 6:14 we are told that “David
danced before the Lord with all his might.” David didn’t do this dance in private. He did it right out in public. In fact his wife Micah was so embarrassed by
his dancing that the Bible says that Micah “despised
him in her heart.”
Why
was David dancing? What was he
celebrating that filled him with such joy that he was willing to make a fool of
himself? Quite simply it was the fact
that the Ark of the Covenant was coming to Jerusalem. The ark was God’s throne on earth! This is where the High Priest would once a
year offer the sacrifice of atonement. This
was the mercy seat of God. The coming of
the ark to David’s capital city was the coming of God to David’s capital city.
As the Ark would dwell there so the people could be assured that God was
dwelling in their midst. This was so
important that when Micah confronted him with how silly he looked, David
answered her, “It was before Lord, who
chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince
over Israel, the people of the Lord – and I will make merry before the Lord.”
My
friends, as we celebrate Christmas, we have even more reason to make merry
before the Lord! Something greater than
the Ark has come to us! A child was born
in Bethlehem. This child was not just
any child. He is Jesus the son of Mary,
the Son of God. He is the savior, Christ
the Lord. He is the Word of God made
flesh and dwelling among us. He is
Immanuel, God with us! Yes God has come
into our world to save us from our sin, from death, from all sadness. He will never leave us. He has come to turn
our mourning into dancing!
So
this week grab yourself a pair of fake antlers and make merry before the
Lord! Jesus has been born for you. God Himself has come! It’s time for the reindeer dance! Merry Christmas! Amen!
“You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say
to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… For if you love those who love you, what
reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Matthew 5:44
We
love the Christmas markets this time of year.
They are such a big part of the Christmas season here in Germany. So last night Linda, Steven and I went down
to the one here in Frankfurt. We walked
around, ate come “kartofelpoffers” (potato pancakes), had some dinner,
walked through the various shops, and drank some “Gluhwein” (warmed, mulled wine).
We had a great time. When we got
home, I learned about the attack on one of the Christmas markets in
Berlin. Immediately my mood
changed. My first thoughts were that I
was glad that our kids back home know that Berlin is a long way from here. I thought about the people hurt, those
killed, and their families. I thought, “That could have easily happened tonight
in Frankfurt.” There were a whole range of emotions –
sadness, fear, and anger.
Much
of that was still in my heart this morning. I was making a post to Facebook
asking people to “please keep the victims
and families affected, as well as the people of Berlin and Germany in your
prayers.” Before posting I hesitated. I thought about asking people to also pray
for those who did this. But I didn’t. How could I ask people to pray for them? They are evil. They, whoever they end up being, are the
enemy. If I post that, it will just make
someone mad. So I left that out, made the post and took
Molly for a walk.
This has bothered me all day. As I walked Molly these words of Jesus were
ringing in my ears. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you… For
if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?” Why would
God ask us to do such a thing? Because that
is what He did for us! Think of what
Paul tells us in Romans 5 – “while we
were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…” This is what Christmas is all about. God sent His Son into the world to be born,
to live, to die and to rise again in order to save His enemies. Every person that will be in heaven will
have thought, spoken and lived as one of God’s enemies – every single one. That includes you and me. This is the heart
of the good news of great joy that the angels brought to those shepherds – that
God sent His child to be born in order to save His enemies. When Jesus tells us
to love our enemies, He is only asking us to do what He has already done for
us.
Don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean that such people should not
be arrested and punished. This doesn’t
mean that we shouldn’t fight terrorism. Of
course we should. There are and should
be temporal punishments and consequences or the evil things we do. Innocent
people must be protected. This doesn’t mean we should make excuses for the
horrible things people do. Whatever the reason,
there is no excuse. When God forgives
our crimes that forgives the eternal consequences but it doesn’t keep us from
going to jail. This doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t be angry over what has happened in Berlin. We have every right to be angry and/or sad. This is a horrible crime.
Then how and why can we love our
enemies? Because God, who is justly angered
by our sin, who builds into life consequences for our wrongs, at the same time
loves us. The Bible says, “God wants all men to be saved and come to
the knowledge of the truth.” God’s
word is clear that “God so loved the
world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
If those passages are about how God loves us, gave His Son for us and
wants us to be saved, then they are also about how God loves our enemies, gave
His Son for our enemies and wants our enemies to be saved.
So please forgive me and let me amend my post
from this morning. “Please keep the victims and families affected, the people of Berlin
and Germany, and the people who did these terrible things in your
prayers. Ask God to change their hearts, to forgive them, to bring them to
faith.”
There is
quite a contrast in the story of Simeon in Luke 2. On the one hand there is the joy of Simeon.
At last the dream of his life is fulfilled.
“It had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Now it has happened. As Mary and Joseph carry the baby into the
temple, Simeon breaks into song. He praises God for the fulfillment of His
promises. “Sovereign Lord, as you have
promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Then suddenly everything changes. This same Simeon turns dour and serious. He speaks a very hard message to Mary and
Joseph about their child. “This child is destined to cause the
falling and rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many
hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” How is it that a moment of great joy and
gladness can at the same time be pierced through with sadness and grief?
Yet so
very often that’s the way it is for many people during the Christmas
season. On the outside you wear a
grin. Your life is clothed in the
festive decorations and wrappings of the season. You speak the expected “Merry Christmas” as
if on cue. Often all of that is real.
You aren’t faking. Yet just as real is what is going on inside. Inside there is loss, and emptiness,
discouragement and depression. How can
this be? There are any number of
reasons. It can be the death of a loved one.
I know a woman whose sister died around Christmas. For many years she could not step inside a
church on Christmas Eve.. At a time when
all sorts of loved ones are gathering together – the emptiness left by the
death of a spouse or a parent is even more pronounced. Any loss in life become more pronounced in our
lives when we are told that at this time of year that we expected to be full of
life not empty of it. In fact, when you
are having troubles in your marriage, when you are worried about your kids,
when you struggle to pay all your bills, when you are waiting word from the
doctor – simply singing songs, putting on a smile and saying “Merry Christmas”
doesn’t make the problems disappear. In
fact it often only makes you feel your struggles more deeply. We come at this season with all sorts of
unreasonable expectations. We want
Christmas to be a time of “peace” when we can leave our troubles behind us, at
least for a while. The problem is that
can’t happen. We live between the
Christmases, between our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem and His coming again in
glory. Between the Christmases we will
have troubles. After all, though we are
saints we are also still sinners… though we are forgiven, we are not yet
perfect… though we are saved we are not yet in heaven.
Thank
God that He didn’t send his Son into the world so we could put on a mask and
pretend life’s struggles aren’t real.
God sent his Son into the world to confront life’s sorrows head on. That’s why Simeon praises God and yet also speaks
hard words to Mary and Joseph. This is
the real Christmas. That little baby
Jesus, held in the arms of Mary is given to the world because God has seen all
our trials and sorrows. He has seen the
loss sin and death bring to our lives. He has seen it all and in love He gave
His one and only Son. Yes Christmas is a
time of loss for God too. God joined us
in our loss! Jesus gave up all for you
and me. He came to take up our infirmities and carry our sorrows… to be pierced through
for our transgressions on the cross. He came to be cursed by our sin. He came so that by His Easter resurrection He
might have victory over all the things that defeat us. He rose so that He might pour into our lives
fullness of life – forgiveness of sins, healing of all our deepest wounds, a
God who will listen to the deepest cries of our heart. He was born to give us real peace – not one
that denies our problems, but one that is able to face those problems head on
in the confidence that whatever they are – Christ has already carried the
burden. He has already won the
victory!
For me Christmas has never been the same since
1975. That morning my dad woke me up
early to tell me that my sister Roberta had died. She had died while we were in church the
night before. My sister had spent most
of her life severely brain damaged and deaf from an illness as a little child. Yet in her life God used her to teach my
family much about his love and the joy of living. Now God used her again in death. It was my first experience of death. I remember the strange feeling of loss and
gain, of great sorrow and great joy, of deep peace in the midst of heart
wrenching grief – all at the same time.
I had lost my sister and that hurt.
Yet I knew she was in heaven. I remember thinking about it that year-
This is what Christmas is all about.
This is why Jesus was born in that manger in Bethlehem.
This is why He went to the cross and the empty tomb. Christmas is no escape. The peace Christmas offers is not false. In
that child born in Bethlehem God offers peace between the Christmases… peace in
the midst of loss and sorrow, grief and struggle. He gave His Son so that then
Simeon’s song would become your song and mine – “Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in
peace. For my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for
revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Amen.
Last
week in the blog I shared with you a story from my previous congregation in
Flower Mound, Texas. It was a about a
ministry there called “Celebrate Recovery.”
This is a Christian recovery ministry patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. However Celebrate recovery is not limited to
recovering alcoholics. Celebrate
recovery invites anyone who has a “hurt, habit or hang up.” Since we all have at least one of those, Celebrate
Recovery is a recovery ministry for everyone.
Last week I described how on one Sunday people from Celebrate Recovery
gave a “cardboard” testimony during worship.
Different people stood in front of the church and, without speaking a
word, gave a powerful testimony to how God had changed their lives through this
ministry. They simply held on a piece of
cardboard. On one side each person had
written a one or two word summary of their personal hurt, habit or hang up.
They wrote words like “addict” or “alcoholic” or “pornography” or “anger
issues.” They held the board for a
moment so everyone could read it. Then
they flipped it over to show how God had changed their lives. On the other side were words like “forgiven,” “transformed by God’s grace,” “set free from
addiction.” That was a powerful day in
the life and ministry of Lamb of God.
Their
cardboard testimonies provide a powerful illustration of how God calls us to
live our lives “between the Christmases,” between our Lord’s birth and His
second coming. Those pieces of
cardboard are a metaphor for it means to live in repentance. What happened for those people at Celebrate
Recovery… what God is looking for in you and me is more than just
cardboard. He is seeking what John
describes in Matthew 3, that we “bear
fruit in keeping with repentance.”
He is seeking to transform our lives… turn us around and send us in a
new direction.
I
know it’s easy to say I am sorry, to wear repentance as a mask, to put on a religious
show for everyone… as a way to hide your ongoing life of sin. For the Pharisees and Sadducees – that was all that they were
doing by coming to John the Baptist.
They weren’t sorry for their sin.
They didn’t want to change. They
didn’t think that their lives needed any change. Their appearance at the Jordan River was simply
a piece of cardboard to hide behind. You
and I can do that too. We can put on a
show to fool others. We may even fool ourselves. But we can’t fool God.
What
God is seeking to do in our lives… what happened in the lives of those people
who attend Celebrate Recovery is much more than simply flipping over a piece of
cardboard. I think of a friend who was playing
music for the opening worship at Celebrate Recovery. He would play his guitar. Then when the ministry broke up into small
groups, he would go home. He told himself that he didn’t need any help. But God kept working on his heart… showing
him his struggle with alcohol. Finally admitting
that struggle, asking forgiveness, and seeking help to change – his life began “bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.” Don’t’ get me wrong, his forgiveness didn’t
depend on him changing. God had forgiven
him in Christ before he ever repented. Having
forgiven Him God completed the work of repentance. He changed him. That change wasn’t a show. It wasn’t easy. He had to die – die to alcohol… die to pride…
die to self so that God could raise Him up with Christ. Here is how Paul described repentance in his
own life, “I have been crucified with
Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I
live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” That’s way more than a piece of cardboard.
Repentance
goes even further. Repentance is not
simply turning that piece of cardboard over one time and you are done. This being crucified and raised to new life
is not a one-time event. Those folks in
celebrate recovery still struggle.
Sometimes they fall. But they
have accountability partners to help them when they are tempted and to lift
them up when they fall. As we live
between the Christmases, we continue to struggle with sin every day. Every day our God calls us back to Himself,
invites us to confess and die again to sin.
Every day He raises us up… He forgives our sins… He flips the cardboard
again and again… until the day when He comes again… On that day there will be
only one side of the cardboard to show… the side that say “God has made all
things new… including you and me.”
“For the grace
of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce
Ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
Upright and
godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory
Of our great God
and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Titus 1:11-13
When
you have kids and grandkids, you really look forward to Christmas. You just know how excited the kids are going
to be. In fact you look forward to their
2nd, 3rd, 4th Christmases even more than you
look forward to their first Christmas.
Their first Christmas is fun but they are too young to really understand
what is happening. After that first Christmas
their excitement grows with each new celebration. They know what’s coming and they can’t
wait. As a parent and now as a
grandparent, I love watching and being a part of their excitement.
That’s
a great metaphor for our lives as believers.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we live our lives “between the
Christmases.” Each year, in our
worship, we make the journey to Bethlehem, to Galilee, to Jerusalem, to the
cross and the empty tomb. We know about
the first Christmas, about the night Jesus was born and all that His first
coming means for us. We know that Jesus
was born to die for our sins. He was
born to rise again and conquer death. We
rejoice in the truth Paul writes to Titus that at that first Christmas “the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people…” Because of
that first Christmas we look forward to another Christmas coming. He is coming back. On that day Jesus will take us to be with Him
forever. He will give us new bodies to
be like His glorious body. He will give
us a life where there will be no more death, no more sin, no more “mourning, nor crying , nor pain…” Because of our Lord’s first appearing, we
live our lives looking forward to the second Christmas,. In the words of Paul, we live “waiting for our blessed hope,the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” We live between the Christmases.
That
truth gives us hope as we live our lives in the here and now. That truth enables us to live with hope in
the face of all of life’s choices – our past choices, our present choices and
the choices that life seems to make for us.
We
have all made choices we regret… choices to do wrongs that can’t be undone… to
say words that can’t be unsaid. I
remember a man who came to me because he had cheated on his wife. He was convinced he had destroyed his
relationship with his wife, his kids and His God. What would any of them want with him again? I knew a man who after many years of freedom,
for some unknown reason started taking cocaine again. That choice almost cost him his life and his
wife. Or what about the woman who made
the choice to lie to her husband rather than tell the truth. That lie led to another lie. Pretty soon she was caught in a web of
lies. We have all made such bad
choices. We all make them every day…
choices we can’t undo. But God can. God has.
That’s the hope of the two Christmases.
Jesus came as a tiny baby to pay the price for all our bad choices. He comes again in glory to undo the mess we
have made… to make all things new! There
is our hope – that with God there is forgiveness no matter what we have done or
said.
What’s
more living between the Christmases gives us reason to make good choices. Isn’t that what Paul wrote to Titus? For
the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us
to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright
and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing
of the glory Of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” When we choose sin, we are choosing to live
as if there is no hope… as if there is nothing beyond this life to live
for. Therefore we might as well do as we
please because it doesn’t matter anyway.
Well there is hope. There is life beyond this life to live for. Our choices do matter. Jesus won that life for
us by His first appearing. He comes
again to give us that life in all its fullness.
There was a ministry at Lamb of God called Celebrate Recovery. This ministry helps people who have made bad
choices to learn that they don’t have to keep on making those bad choices. How?
By sharing with people the hope that they have in Jesus. One day this group did a cardboard testimony
in Church. They each came out and showed
the congregation two sides of a piece of cardboard. On one side they confessed to whatever the
sin was they struggled with – anger, alcoholism, infidelity, and so on. On the
other they told how Christ had conquered those choices in their lives. That Sunday a young man sitting in Church
wanted what they had. So he started
coming to celebrate Recovery. Because of
the hope we have in Christ – he now makes a choice every day to say no to
pornography.
Yes
living between the Christmases gives us hope as we face our past and present
choices. What about those things that
happen in our lives over which we have no choice? No one chooses to have MS or cancer, or a
stroke. You don’t choose to have a birth
defect or to have special needs. My
sister didn’t choose to have tubercular meningitis. Living between the Christmases gives us hope
even in the face of such challenges. I
think of Marcia Williams from one of my former congregations. When I knew her she was almost completely
paralyzed. She could only move her head
and one arm. Yet every time I came to
see her, she lifted me up. Often she
would be on the phone encouraging others who were hurting. She lived every day with hope in spite of the
challenge she faced. Why? Because she lived between the
Christmases. She knew that Jesus came
that first Christmas to be her savior.
She knew He is coming again to give her a new body free from illness and
pain, free to move.
That
is where we live too – between the Christmases.
Every day we live thankful for what Jesus did for us by His life, death
and resurrection… facing each day in the certain hope that any trouble in this
life is only temporary. After all we are
looking forward to a second Christmas,“waiting for our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory o-f our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
“Rejoice in the
Lord always; again I will say rejoice!”
Philippians 4:4
I
will never forget it. A young mother was
trying to pose her two little girls for a Christmas photo with two little
puppies. The girls, however, wouldn’t
cooperate. They were very tired from a
full and busy day with family. They
wouldn’t sit still. Finally the mother
got angry, slammed down her hand on the floor and yelled, “Smile!” Well then the girls started to cry. I won’t tell you what the puppies did.
That
simple story has always served as a reminder to me that you can’t command happiness.
You and I can’t make someone else happy. I think that is what frustrates many a spouse
in marriage. They make it their goal to
make the other person happy. When they
can’t do it, they get “frustrated.” When
the other person gets discouraged or worried or fearful, they either think it’s
their fault or they make it their responsibility to make the person happy. All their efforts to make the unhappy person
happy just make that other person even more unhappy. The demand that they be happy has just added
another burden to their life… another demand is made of them that they are
doomed to fail. You may wish for
another person’s happiness but you can’t command it. It’s just not in your power.
But
how then can Paul write these words to the Christians in Philippi , “Rejoice in the Lord always?” Quite simply this is because happiness and joy
are not the same thing. Happiness is at
the mercy of circumstances. If the weather is nice for my picnic… if I get
a raise at work… If I am healthy I may very well be happy. However, if the picnic gets rained out, or if
I lose my job, or if I need surgery I may very well be unhappy.
Joy
however is something different. Joy is
not at the mercy of life’s ever changing circumstances. Joy is, according to Paul, a fruit of the
Spirit. Joy is a product of our relation
with God. The weather, our health, our
employment and other such circumstances are constantly changing. Our relationship with God doesn’t change
based on such things. God’s love for us
is sure no matter what the weather, no matter what our job status or our
health. Good or bad, we continue to live
in the assurance that He loves us either way.
Why? God gave His Son for us.
That fact doesn’t change with the weather. God’s Son Jesus gave His life as the atoning sacrifice
for our sins. Having a good job or
getting fired doesn’t change that fact.
Happiness
is at the mercy of our changing circumstances, not joy. Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always
for no matter what else changes in our lives, we can always count on Him. If I lose my job I am probably not going to
be happy, but I can’t still rejoice in the Lord who will never leave me or
forsake me. If I have cancer that will
not be happy news but I can still rejoice in the Lord for He makes all things
work together for the good of those who love Him. I was not happy when my dad and later my mom
died. I missed them. I hurt.
I grieved. But I also rejoiced for
I believe that Jesus died and rose again and so I believe that when He comes
again God will bring my parents with Him.
My
country sets as one of its goals the pursuit of happiness. While happiness is a wonderful thing, such a
goal for life is certain to frustrate you because happiness can change with the
weather. Much better is to seek after
the God who has come seeking you in Jesus Christ. He is unchanging. His love, and His forgiveness are gifts that
He will not take away. The fruit of
knowing Him and believing in Him is a joy that deals with the changing
realities of life by trusting in the unchanging hope He gives. The fruit of knowing God in Christ is exactly
as Paul describes it in Philippians – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice!”
He
was one of my close friends in the Texarkana congregation. He once taught me an important lesson in the
midst of teaching his kids this lesson.
I witnessed a couple of occasions when one of this man’s teenagers was
upset. They were about to say something
in anger or frustration. Then their dad
would hold up a hand. “Stop,” he’d
say. “Stop and think before you
speak. Count to 10. Do you really want to say this? Are you taking this out on the right person?”
Stop
and think! That’s great advice. It’s a lesson I have had to learn the hard
way. There were times in staff meetings,
in one on one confrontation, in emails I have sent, in posts I have made to
Facebook, when I haven’t stopped to think before I spoke or before I
wrote. Instead I spoke first, or wrote
first before I thought. Almost always
things I have spoken in anger, or written in haste have simply made matters
worse.
Stop
and think! I find this to be especially
good advice when it comes to emails or social media posts. Emails are so easily misinterpreted. There have been times when I have received emails
that have seemed extremely inflammatory.
In anger I have immediately responded.
Such responses have led to email battles that were totally unnecessary. Yes I have learned the hard way that the best
thing to do when I receive such an email is to Stop and Think! Put down the email. Allow my first reaction to diminish for a
couple of hours, maybe a day. Then, come
back to read it again, with a cooler head.
Often the best way to respond, if at all possible, is to go talk to the
person face to face or to call on the phone.
That way I can ask questions, listen and seek to understand before I
respond.
Far
too often on Facebook, especially in recent weeks, I have seen people writing
things about other groups of people that are very unkind, even down right mean generalizations. You know, when we write such generalizations
about people, we may without meaning to be writing about someone we know who
belongs to that larger group… someone we know isn’t like the people we just
described. Generalizations are almost
never true. I know how this feels. I
have had friends who aren’t Christians write nasty things about
Christians. It hurts. Perhaps I have made such posts about those
who aren’t Christians. I hope they don’t
think such things about me, but I have to admit that when I read them, I want
to get angry, to write a sharply worded response. But then my friend’s words to his kids ring
in my ears - “Stop and think!” I don’t want my response to do more harm to
what other’s think about our faith and our savior. Often I just don’t respond at all.
There
is a Bible verse that comes to mind whenever I think about my friend’s advice
to his kids. It comes from Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God…” The Lord here adds a little extra to my
friend’s advice. Stop and think and talk
to Me, God is saying, Remember Me. Ask yourself
and Him, “How would the Lord want me to respond?” “How can our response reflect to others the
loving God we believe in and worship?”
The Lord convicts me with the idea that my angry response is often
attempt to act as if I am god. That
angry response is often me attempting to lord it over another person. But I am not God. Neither are you. He is and He loves people. He loves you… and He loves the person who
wrote that nasty email. He loves us all
so much that for all of us He gave His own Son.
So
the next time you are ready to post something or respond in anger to an email
or a mean thing someone said to you – Stop and think. Stop and calm down. Stop and pray. Or as the Lord puts it, “Be still and know that I am God…”
not you.
It
has happened every time the Cubs got close to winning it all. You start seeing all sorts of cartoons and
hearing all sorts of jokes about impending doom. “Cubs are winning, Hell is preparing for a
hard winter.” “Cubs are going to the
World Series, hell has frozen over.”
Last week, after they had won, someone joked, “Wouldn’t it have been
appropriate if Jesus had come back during the rain delay. Then we would never have known if the Cubs
won.” That’s the way it has been. The Cubs start winning and everyone assumes
it’s the end of the world.”
Now
all of that is obviously said in jest.
People are joking. Far more
serious, however, has been all the worry and fear surrounding the election
taking place today in the USA. Each side
in this election has claimed that if the other side wins that will spell the
end of America as we know it. What I
hear from many of my countrymen is real fear of what will happen regardless of
who wins. Many are disgusted with all
the candidates Many believe that the
election of either one will be a disaster.
I have even encountered fear and worry from people over here in
Europe. People here are closely watching
this election, very concerned about the outcome. In the last two months, as
soon as someone here figures out that I am an American they start asking about
the election. They want to know what I
think about who will win. They want to
know who I am going to vote for. I understand that in Mexico they have prepared
themselves for severe economic troubles based on who wins the US election.
People are talking and acting at times as if the result of the US election
could be the end of the world.
Well,
as this 2016 Election Day begins in the USA, I have some great news for
everyone. The only thing that is the end of the world IS the end of the world. This obvious truth has been a big help to me,
because I am a big worrier, prone to over-react. AS a new young father in debt there were many
times when I worried myself sick about bills.
I have stressed myself out because I was so completely afraid to do
something for fear of how someone else might react. When my dad died, I wasn’t sure how I could
make it without him. I am not the only
one who goes through such moments. I
remember one man whose wife was diagnosed with cancer, another whose wife
wanted a divorce, a woman whose kid were in trouble with drugs… the list goes
on and on. For each one it seemed at the moment as if the world was coming to an
end. And don’t get me wrong. Each situation was serious. However none of them was the end of the
world. What happens in this presidential
election in America is not the end of the world. The only thing that is the end of the world
is the end of the world.
Our
fears and worries over this election or over anything are very revealing. Our fears and worries reveal that you and I
are at time putting our faith in the wrong things and the wrong people. When we worry about money… when we are
fearful of making plans based on a presidential election… when we feel as life
will end because we lost our job, or because our spouse wants a divorce – then
we are looking to saviors who cannot save us.
Friends,
we already have a savior. His name is
Jesus! Where others will most assuredly
fail us, Jesus will not. That’s why Paul writes what he writes here in
Philippians 4. “Rejoice in the Lord
always; again I will say it rejoice. Let
your reasonableness be known to everyone.
The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God. And the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
That’s probably the best way to know
whether your faith is place rightly or wrongly.
Put your faith in those who are sure to fail you – worry and fear will
always follow. Put your faith in Jesus
and peace guards your heart. After all
you have in Him a God and savior who loves you so much He gave Himself up for
you. He conquered death. He can do anything. He keeps His promises. Jesus will not fail you.
So
as you go into vote, pray and put your faith in God. Whoever wins the election – pray for that
person and put your faith in God. After
all in Jesus, even the end of the world is not something to be feared. There is no need to worry. With Jesus the end of the world means He is
coming back! That my friends is reason
for hope. As Jesus once said, “When these things begin to take place,
look up. Lift up your heads. Your
redemption is drawing near.” And remember today – THE ONLY THING THAT IS
THE END OF THE WORLD IS THE END OF
THE WORLD.
You shall teach
them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
If
you have been around me at all then you know that I am a diehard fan of the
Chicago Cubs. This year, for the first
time in my life time, the Cubs are playing in the World Series. Tonight is game 7. Whoever wins this game wins the championship.
This is going to be a fun ending to the season, whoever wins.
What
you may not know is why I am a Cubs fan.
Quite simply rooting for the Cubs is for me, as it is for many,
something that was handed down to me from my dad. Now I could point to many things that were a
part of that. Today on my Facebook page
I wrote about going to work with my dad as a child. He would be working on installing or fixing
some air conditioner. My job was to hold
the transistor radio. For those of you
who don’t know – that was a small hand held radio. I still have the one from back then. I wish I had it here to show you but it’s in
storage in the states. Anyway, my job
was to hold the radio, listen to the game and tell dad the score. However the real event where my dad passed on
the torch was at my very first Cub game in 1969. A foul ball landed in my dad’s beer, and
spilled with the beer into his lap. Without
a moment’s hesitation my dad took that ball and placed it into my hands. I have been a Cub an ever since. That ball is still one of my prized possessions
– mostly because of how it connects me to my dad.
You
know as much as I love the Cubs, the even more important inheritance passed on
from my father and mother is my faith in Jesus.
Oh God used friends and teachers and pastors to pass on the faith to
me. However the most important people He
used were my parents. It all started on
Jan. 1, 1958 when my parents took me to church to be baptized. On that day, the took the faith and placed it
in my hands as a gift… a gift just like that baseball, a gift more valuable
that that baseball. They kept doing it.
They took me to church, to Sunday School, and to confirmation. They talked about the faith at home. They taught me to pray. Teaching me about Jesus, making sure that I
learned about Him is the most valuable inheritance they could pass on to
me. I may have groused and complained at
the time, but now I am so thankful that they never let my grousing hold them
back. They never gave into me to please
me. They knew they were first and
foremost my parents, not my best friends.
They knew this was the most important responsibility He had given them
as parents.
That
is how the faith is passed on: generation to generation. That is God’s first and most important
calling in our lives – to pass on the faith to our kids and grandkids. That’s what Moses is saying here. “You shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk
by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” As you bring your children to be baptized,
as you read bible stories, talk about Jesus and teach them to pray in your
homes… as they witness you going to church and reading your Bibles… as you take
them to church and Sunday School regularly – you are doing what my dad did. You are taking the ball… the faith and
placing it in their hands.
I
don’t say this as a word of law but as a word of encouragement. Sometimes we parents don’t know how important
a gift we are in the lives of our kids and grandkids. We don’t realize how God will use us to have
an impact in their lives. We are all to aware that we make mistakes. Yet God is gracious, God is loving and
forgiving. He will use us in the lives
of our children. So take that ball..
that faith and place it into their hands… let God write it on their
hearts. Jesus is the most important
inheritance you can pass on to your children and grandchildren.
“…He chose us in
Him before the foundation of the world…”
Ephesians 1:4a
Linda
and I voted today. For us this election
marks a couple of firsts. This is the
first time we ever voted by Absentee Ballot.
That’s a more involved process than I realized. For the past several months the American
Consulate has been emailing us to tell us how to do this. So in September we downloaded the
registration form. We filled that out
and sent it to the clerk in Denton County Texas. A couple of days later we received all the
paper work we needed and a ballot for each of us. This week we each did our voting. We put it in the appropriate envelopes, and
put the mailing labels on the front.
Then today, I walked both our ballots over to the US consulate. The guard came out, I dropped them in the
voting box. Now the US consulate will
mail them back to the states for us. All
of that was a first for us.
This
election is also the first time we have ever been tempted not to vote. Like many back in the states this election
has frustrated us – so much nastiness… no candidates we really wanted to vote
for… We almost decided not to vote. But
we couldn’t do that. Voting is too
important. No we don’t buy the argument
that the world will end if the wrong person wins. No what makes voting important to us is the
fact that members of our families risked their lives fighting for this
right. Men and women have died so that we
could have this right. We would dishonor
their sacrifice by not voting.
What
helped me get past my frustrations? It
was an editorial that reminded me that no matter who wins the election, the
next day Jesus will still be King of kings and Lord of lords. That put everything in perspective for
me. Yes the presidential election is
important. But it’s not the end of the
world. The results of that election are
only temporary… only really impacting this life.
There
is another election that is much more important, an election that has eternal
significance. That’s the one Paul
describes in Ephesians 1:4 - “…He chose
us in Him before the foundation of the world…” The most important election is the one that
God held before He even created the world.
Think of all that He elected before time began. He elected to create this whole, vast, beautiful
universe. He elected to create mankind,
to put us in this world to take care of it.
Knowing all along that we would rebel, He elected to give the world a
savior. He elected that His own Son
would come into this world, die for the sins of the world and be raised to life
in order to conquer death. On a more
personal note, He elected to make you His own in Christ. He chose you to be adopted as His Sons in
baptism.
God’s
election is way more comforting and hopeful than even the best presidential
election could ever hope to be. Just
think, knowing that the world would reject Him, God elected to love the world
anyway. Indeed He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever
believes in Him might not perish but will have eternal life. Knowing how sinful you and I would be, He
elected to love us anyway. He elected to
call you and me by name, to wash away our sins and adopt us as His own in
baptism. Our assurance of forgiveness,
our confidence in God’s love, our hope for eternity are not made certain by our
choices and elections. They are made
certain by God’s choosing.
What
about those living around us who do not believe? Is there hope or comfort? Do they have a place in God’s election? They most certainly do! Before the foundation of the world God
elected to love the whole world. God
elected to give His Son for everyone.
That objective act is what gives me the confidence that He gave His Son
for me. Paul wrote “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself...” God’s word is clear. “God
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” His arms are open, inviting all to come to
Him… wanting everyone to hear how much He loves them… desiring all to believe in
Jesus and be saved… How will that
happen? We come back to His
election. He has elected you and me who
believe to tell people about Him and His Son Jesus.
To
me that puts this other election in context.
Why waste so much energy worrying and fretting and arguing over who gets
elected President? How much better to
focus on the comfort, the hope, the purpose, the eternal blessings God’s
election in Christ brings to you and me. That’s the most important election.
“He put a new
song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God…”
Psalm 40:3a
“Oh
sing to the Lord, O sing God a new song… “
I
love to sing. In fact, one of the things
that drives Linda crazy is that I can burst out into unexpected song just about
any time and anywhere. It also drives her crazy that I only know the first line
to many songs, and most of the time I will get that wrong too. What’s more I will take well known songs and
make them songs about people we happen to be with However, as she will tell you, when I am going
around singing, even if I am singing nonsense, that is a sure sign that I am
relaxed and feeling good about life.
Just ask youth that have gone with me on mission trips. That will all remember how I woke them up
early each morning sing as loud as I could “So rise and shine and give God the
glory, glory…”
What
I particularly enjoy is singing in Worship.
For me Sunday morning worship and in particular singing in worship is
“Spring Training” for heaven. When we
sing in God’s house He is warming us up for eternity when we will be singing
day and night before God’s throne. I really struggle looking around a sanctuary
and seeing people, usually men just standing there. I know that some of them don’t like music,
and many of them are just plain shy about their singing. They are afraid that they can’t sing
well. My opinion is, so what? I operate by the philosophy, “If you are
going to sin, sin boldly.” I apply that
to my singing, “If you are going to make a mistake in a song, make it loud and
no one will notice.” One of my kids
favorite stories is hearing me mix together two verses from a familiar hymn. Instead of singing “Have no fear little
flock…” I sang out “Have NO CHEER little flock…” Everybody in the church heard
me, turned, saw it was me and laughed.
It
doesn’t bother or embarrass me at all.
God, you see, has given us great reason to sing and sing with
gusto. The Psalmist says it here - “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of
praise to our God…” Think for a
moment of all that is “new” about the song God gives us to sing. First of all its new because its different
than any song this world gives us to sing.
For God’s new song is not selfish or lustful or greedy or
degrading. His new song is not at all
focused on us. It’s focused on Him. The new song is a “song of praise to our
God.”
What’s
more this new song is about the new thing that God has done in Jesus
Christ. Jesus is what makes the
Christian faith different from every other religion. In every other religion we are told to do
something to make up for our sin, to earn our way back to God. Because we can never do enough or be good
enough that makes every other religion a real burden. We are told to do what we can’t. In Jesus God has done something news. He has done for us what we can’t do. He has come down to us, taken on flesh and
blood, lived the perfect life we can’t, then paid the price for our failures by
His death on the cross and finally been raised to life again to bring us back
to God. He does it all freely for
us. Wow!
If Jesus isn’t reason to sing, I
don’t know what is.
God’s
new work doesn’t stop there. Then He comes down into our lives. He calls us to Himself baptism. He washes us
clean. He gives us His Holy Spirit. He makes us new. And every day His forgiveness and grace give
us yet another new beginning. One day He
will make everything new and give us a new heaven and a new earth to live in
forever. “If anyone is in Christ Jesus
He is a new creation. Behold the old has
gone and the new is come.”
Nothing
expressed the new work God is doing in your heart and mine than to sing… to
sing about Jesus… a new song worth singing every Sunday and every day… singing
at the top of your lungs, unashamed, wanting everyone to hear – a song of
praise to our God!
"I said, 'I will
confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and You forgave the iniquity of my
sin." Psalm 32:5b
Have
you ever apologized to someone for some wrong you committed... ever asked someone to forgive you only to
have them shrug their shoulders and say something like, "Don't worry about
it, It's no big deal. It doesn't
matter?" Have you ever responded that
way to someone? In my case the answer to
both questions is yes and it drives me crazy.
I don't like it when someone says that to me or when I say it to someone
else.
Why
does this bother me? Well think for a
moment about what we are saying to someone by such a response. If someone apologizes and you respond, "It's no big deal" you are
implying to them that they aren't a big deal to you. You are implying that they just aren't
important enough in your life for any wrong they might do to really hurt you.
Think
about how the LORD responds to our confession.
David writes, "I said, 'I
will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and You forgave the iniquity of my
sin." Our Lord never responds to our confession with
words like, "It's no big deal," because in His eyes our sin is a big
deal. It matters to him because we
matter to Him. So He responds, "I
forgive you." With those words He makes
plain just how serious our sin is and how much He loves us. With those words He
is saying that He loves us so much that He is not wiling for our sin to
separate us from Him.
Instead,
rather than hold our sin against us, He gave His one and only Son. Rather than punish us for our sins, He
punished Jesus in our place. That's what
was happening through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of sin by
Himself being cursed for us. God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus "was
delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our
justification." Your God loves
you so much that rather than make you live with the pain sin deserves, He
endured that pain for you.
Even
having done all that, our Lord is not finished.
He provides the means of grace - the Gospel and the Sacraments - by
which He forgives our sins. Two weeks ago, in the blog, I wrote about the First
Act of our worship service – the invocation that recalls for us our
baptisms. Well the Second Act is
Confession and Absolution. Sin is such a
big deal that the first and second Word God speaks to us in worship is the word
of His forgiveness. I read a post online this week reminding me that confession
of sin is a wonderful thing, but absolution (forgiveness) is even better. One of the great joys of being a Pastor is
that every Sunday I am privileged to stand here and be His mouthpiece. In response to your confession, my joy is to
say to you, “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die or you and for
His sake forgives you all your sin. As a
called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all
your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
What’s more, if some particular sin is really troubling you, God
provides the gift of private confession.
You can come to your Pastor in complete confidentiality, confess the
troubling sin or sins and hear God’s assurance of forgiveness spoken personally
and privately to you. Yes God so wants
to assure you that you are forgiven that He provides a real live person, a
Pastor whom He has called primarily to speak to you His marvelous words, “I forgive
you.”
So
when someone does apologize and ask your forgiveness, it is a big deal. At that moment, the most loving words you can
speak are these words, “Yes what you did hurt.
But you matter more to me and to Jesus than any hurt. I forgive you and more importantly the Lord
forgives you.” That is a BIG Deal. Amen.
