Robert - My Reminder of the Famous One

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Psalm 8:1

Since I started this blog I have, over the past couple of years, done a blog based on the names of each of our grandchildren.  Linda has been reminding me that I have not yet done one based on the name of our youngest grandson – Robert.  Well today is the day.   Since he is named after my dad, I thought that I might simply do a blog in which I told little Robert about the man he is named after.  But then I googled the meaning of the name Robert.  What I learned is that his name means “famed, bright, shining.”  The first thing that came to mind was the song “The Famous One” by Chris Tomlin, which is based on these words from Psalm 8 - “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  Of course “the famous One” in that song is not my grandson (hard as that might be to believe.”  “The famous One”, the one whose name is majestic in all the earth, is our Lord and God. 

Ok so what?  Well I got to thinking that, at least for Linda and I, Robert is a great reminder of or picture of the things Psalm 8 teaches us about our Lord and God.  That’s even what this Psalm says, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength…  God intends these tiny little ones to be a reminder to us of how mysterious and beyond understanding our God is.  He is literally “out of this world.”  I think of Robert’s birth a year ago… the first time we held him.  Then I look at how he has grown… learning to crawl, starting to eat real food, pulling himself up, wanting to grab everything, his reaction to hearing and seeing Nana on Facetime, his giggles when he watches his big brother or plays “peek-a-boo.”  Wow.  The majesty of God’s power… His strength and wisdom on display for us in a tiny baby.  Our God is out of this world. He is “the Famous One.” 

The Psalmist goes on - When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,      what is man that you are mindful of him,  and the son of man that you care for him?  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.   That is definitely the “fame” I see “shining” through Robert.  You know this is why Stephen Hawkins, the famous physicist wouldn’t believe in God. He couldn’t understand why, with the vastness of the universe, an Almighty God would be interested in what happens to us on this one tiny little planet.  After all within the context of the universe our little planet is less than one little grain of sand.  You and I and Robert are even less significant than that.  Yet He is mindful of us.  “For God so loved the world (for God so loved Robert, you and me) that He gave His one and only Son, that whosever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”    I can’t help but think of little Robert’s baptism day about a year ago.  That day, the God of the heavens and earth took note of tiny little Robert.  The real Famous One reached down through water and the word to adopt Robert as His own child.  The Majestic God knew Roberts name, called him by name to be God’s own.  God’s love in this little guy’s life is a great reminder that God is mindful of each and every one of us.  No matter how insignificant you and I are in the Universe, because of Jesus, “the Famous One” you are significant to the one who made the heavens and the earth.

So do you have a “Robert” or “Roberts” in your life – people big or small that remind you of how out of this world… how famous and majestic and loving our God is?  Think about that today. Take note of your “Roberts.”  Little Robert is one of mine – a reminder to me of “the Famous One,” Jesus who loves even me.  Amen. 

A Quiet Place

“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.”

Mark 6:31

We are in the midst of Vacation Bible School here at Fishers of Men in Sugarland.  In fact we finished day four this morning.  That means there is one day left to go.  The mornings here this week have been busy and noisy, loud and fun – 130 children laughing, crying, singing, in constant motion along with all the many volunteers.  What a joy to have fun telling children about Jesus and God’s love.    It has been crazy fun and crazy tiring.  I can literally see the “tired” in people’s eyes. 

That’s why I look forward to the afternoons around church this week.  The crazy constant motion and noise gives way to almost complete silence around the church building.  It’s a stunning and welcome contrast.  Yes I enjoy both.  I love all the activity of ministry – whether its Vacation Bible School, a Youth Ministry mission trip, a Bible class, or a full Sunday morning.  What a joy to be busy with God’s work among God’s people.  However I also enjoy the quiet moments… the times of silence that help us to spend time with God… in prayer, letting Him re-energize us. 

Sometimes we forget that you need both the noisy activity of life and the quiet place with God.  Too often, we feel guilty about taking those quiet moments away… those moments to just sit and let God speak, let Him give rest to your soul.  It’s as if we think that it’s wrong to take those moments for ourselves…. That if we aren’t constantly “doing” something, we are wasting time. 

That’s why I love this invitation of Jesus in Mark 6.  The disciples and Jesus have been very busy doing God’s work.  The disciples are just returning from a very busy mission trip.  They have been preaching, healing the sick, casting out demons every place they went.  I am sure they were both excited and exhausted…   I can’t help but think of our high school students and Richard our youth minister.  Last week they were on a very busy mission trip.  They came back and jumped right into helping with Vacation Bible School.  That’s what happened to the disciples of Jesus.  They came back from their trip but there was no let up.  Even after they come back to Jesus there are so many people coming to them… they are so busy that Mark tells us that they “had no leisure, even to eat.”  That kind of pace can’t be maintained. 

That’s why Jesus issued this wonderful invitation to His disciples.  “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.”  Feeling guilty over taking time to rest and be away, is silly.  In fact, what we should really feel guilty about is not taking time away.  Rest is part of the pattern of life.  God created the world in six days and rested on Sabbath. He set a pattern for us.  Indeed, He makes taking that time away a commandment – the third commandment.   I like to think of the third commandment as a gift of God.  He is saying.  “You need rest.  I want you to have rest. This is a gift I am giving to you… a gift you need.  In fact, I am not giving you any choice – Rest.”

I know that all of your lives are busy just like mine – a sort of daily “Vacation Bible School.” You serve God by working, by caring for your families, by being a good neighbor, by your service at church and more.  All of that is God’s work and is very important.  But so is the rest God invites us to.  That rest includes physical rest – take a swim, lay down and take a nap…. Go for a walk.  He also desires to give you spiritual rest – a time to pray, to ready His word, to worship and be fed, to just listen for His still small voice.  That too is God’s work – His work in and for you and me.  It is absolutely essential.  You and I can never do God’s work unless we take the time daily and weekly to let Him do His work in us.  Only having been served by Him will we ever be able to serve Him.  So He invites you and me  daily, as He did His disciples,  “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.”

I was reminded of this today.  After lunch, in the quiet of the church building one of our members asked me, “Pastor, what are you doing?  Why aren’t you home resting?”  In that voice I heard my savior’s invitation, “Wayne, come away by yourself… rest awhile. This is a gift I want to give you.”  This is a gift He wants to give to all of us.  It’s a gift we can’t live without.  So find yourself a quiet place and take some time to be alone with God. 

Zero Tolerance

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

^“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Zero Tolerance – that’s a phrase that’s often in the news today.  Mostly it has to do with a policy of strictly enforcing America’s immigration laws – enforcing them with no exceptions.  This morning, I got to thinking about all of that and wondered, “What if our God practiced zero tolerance when it comes to our sin?”  The Bible seems pretty clear about what that would mean.  “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?”  (Ps. 130:3)  In other words, if God practiced zero tolerance – we would all be lost.  After all, we “have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  (Rom 3:23).  “None is righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10b)

Now having said that, my next statement is going to sound strange at first.  In fact, God does practice zero tolerance when it comes to man’s sin… to your sin and mind.    Indeed, thank God He practices zero tolerance.  The Bible is clear.  “The wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23a)   “Death spread to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12b) Yes God does not let even one sinful thought go unpunished, unaccounted for.”  He practices zero tolerance.

However, His zero tolerance is of a completely unexpected kind.  I only quoted half of Romans 6:23. Here’s the whole verse.  “For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Go back to Psalm 130.  I only quoted verse 3.  Here is verse 3 and 4.  “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  BUT with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”  The word “but” in both verses really changes everything.  These verses both say that God practices zero tolerance of sin and at the same time forgives us our sins.  How can that be?  Isn’t that a contradiction.  The explanation, of course, is Jesus.  God has indeed punished all sin of all time!  But He did so by punishing His perfect Son Jesu sin our place.  “For our sake, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”  (2 Cor. 5:21)  “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by Himself being cursed for us.”  (Galatians 3:13).  Jesus “was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification.”  (Rom 4:25)  That’s how God can be both just” (punishing all sin) and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”  (Rom. 3:26)  That is zero tolerance of a unique kind.

What do you suppose would happen if you and I started to practice God’s type of zero tolerance for sin?

First of all, we would act very differently towards our own sinfulness.  Far too often our reaction to our own sin is to deny it, to lie about it, to hide it from others, to blame others, to make excuses.  Far too often our reaction to our own sin is to bury it.  To do that friends, is to tolerate sin in ourselves.  That is no different than knowing you have a cancer and doing nothing about it.  Much better is to confess our sins… to own up to our guilt… to seek help with our struggles… to go to God and ask forgiveness. After all “he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins…”  (1 John 1:9)  If we have wronged or hurt someone, go to them, admit it, seek their forgiveness.  They may or may not forgive you, but sin will have been put to death in you… sin will have been defeated.  You will be able to say with St. Paul in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  That’s what it looks like when you have zero tolerance for your own sin.  

What if others hurt you?  Sin against you?  Practice zero tolerance.  How?  By seeking God’s help to forgive them.  When you get angry… when you hold a grudge… when you refuse to forgive… when you won’t go and talk to them – you are tolerating sin.  You are giving sin the victory.  What does Jesus say? 

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”  (Matthew 18:15)  In other words, love others the way God has loved you.  Yes forgiving those who hurt you is hard. Yes, it means in a sense, that you pay the price of that hurt but giving up any idea of making them suffer for the way they hurt you.  Yes, forgiving means says “Yes, what you did to me hurts, but you mean more to me than any hurt I may have suffered.  I love you and I forgive you.”  After all, that, on a much grander scale is what God did for you. 

Corrie Ten Boom, who survived a Nazi death camp, told the story of meeting a guard from that camp years after the war.  The guard came up to her and asked her forgiveness.  She didn’t want to.  Only after asking for God’s help to forgive him… and by God’s power was able to reach out her hand to him and say those words, “I forgive you.”   That day sin lost that battle.  Sin lost its grip on her heart and on his.  That’s God’s kind of “zero tolerance.”