Why Would Anyone want to be a Christian?

1 Timothy 1:15

“Here is a Trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance:

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners -

Of whom I am the worst”

I used to believe I was an okay golfer.  I could really hit the ball. I wasn’t a bad putter.  My biggest problem was short shots on to the green.  I wasn’t good, I thought, but I wasn’t bad.  Then one day a friend invited me to play one of the courses the professionals play on.  It only took two holes before I came face to face with reality – I wasn’t an okay golfer.  I was a horrible golfer.

The same thing happens as people get closer to Jesus.  Most people like to think they aren’t that bad.  They look at what others do, and think “Well I am not as bad as him.  I must be okay.”  Then they meet Jesus and see the truth.  Pretty soon they start meeting every Sunday to confess their short- comings, their faults, their sins.  Think of the Apostle Paul.  Before becoming a believer Paul was pretty happy with Himself. “I was “a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; …as to righteousness under the law, blameless” But then he came to faith.   After that He wrote to the Corinthians, “I am least of all the Apostles….”    A few more years growing in the faith he writes to the Ephesians “I am the least of all the saints…”   Finally, in his letter to Timothy, close to the end of his life.  Now he is the “chiefest of the sinners.”  Notice he doesn’t write, I WAS the chief of sinners.”  He writes “I AM the chief of sinners.”  The same thing happens to Isaiah.  In the first five chapters of his book Isaiah is pointing the finger at everyone else.  Its all “Woe unto you…”  Then in chapter 6 he sees the Lord.  His tune changes.  Woe to you becomes “Woe to me, for I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips.   The closer you get to the Lord, the more aware of your own sinfulness.

It makes you wonder, why would anyone want to become a Christian?  I would invite you to step even closer to Jesus.  For God intends to show you more than the truth about yourself.  He wants you to see and confess that truth so that you can know, believe and confess this truth - “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…”  The closer I get to Jesus the more amazed I am that He would put up with, even love a guy like me. Its similar to the experience I had of the Swiss Alps.  In October we flew over them.  Wow I thought.  Then in April we were in the Alps. Close up they became even more amazing.  The more closer you are to Jesus - not just looking thru an airplane window at Jesus but walking with him, spending time with Him… the more you begin to say, “Wow.  I am so amazed that in all Your holiness and beauty and purity You would put up with and love and forgive a guy like me”  Isn’t it amazing that God would so desire to spend eternity with people like us that He would give His own Son to suffer, to die and to rise again? 

Indeed the closer you get to Jesus the more thankful you become.  I love the story of the Rooster.  He got up every morning to crow.  When he did the sun would come up.  As the years went by the animals in the farmyard would come by thank him for bringing the sun up every day.  He got cocky.  One day He overslept and yet the sun came up any way.  The animals called him a fraud.  The rooster was embarrassed, disillusioned and depressed.  But then he found himself relieved. “Wow,” He thought, “I can sleep in.  It’s not me.  The world isn’t depending on me.”  There comes a point in a Christian’s life when you realize, “I am a sinner. It’s not me getting my act together that will save me. It’s not me trying harder. I could never try hard enough anyway.  It’s all Christ Jesus.  This is s trustworthy saying, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…”  He came to die for me and rise again. He came to forgive all the sins that I did do, am doing or will do in the future.  I am thankful for him.  All I can do is say worthy is the Lamb… Hallelujah to the Lamb who was slain.”  Notice we don’t sing hallelume.  We sing hallelujah.  Praise to the Lord… to Yahweh.

Indeed the closer you get to Jesus the more you love him.  Do you remember the time when a prostitute came to Jesus to wash his feet with her tears?  The Pharisees grumbled. “If this man was really a prophet he would know what kind of woman this is…    Jesus tells them a story about two men who were in debt to the same creditor.  One owed 50 million and the other just 50 dollars.  The creditor forgives both of them.  Then Jesus asks, “Which one will love the creditor more?  Obviously, the one who was forgiven more will love more.  “You sit here at your table, Jesus says to them, “so self-righteous.  This sinner washes my feet but you didn’t… “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”  The more I am aware of my sin the more I understand the magnitude of what of what it means that God gave His own Son… of what Jesus did for me on that cross…  The more you understand how much you have been forgiven, and loved, the more you love Jesus.

Why would anyone want to be a Christian?  That’s why!  Amen 

The Price of a Good Father

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”

John 3:16

I shared the thoughts that follow with a family just yesterday.  I see it in every post on Facebook of someone who wishes they could give their dad just one more hug… who wishes that their dad could see his granddaughter graduate or his grandson get married.  I have experienced it myself every day since my father died 20 years ago.  The grief, the pain that comes with their death is the price of having a father, or for that matter a mother whom you loved and who loved you. 

I have to tell you that as painful as losing dad was, I thank God every day that I had a father that when he was gone, I missed him.  There are so many things that God gives us through our fathers.  A good father gives security to his family.  He teaches his son by word and example what it means to be a godly man, how to respect women, how to love your wife.  He teaches his daughter good boundaries, how she should expect a man to treat her, how to face this world with confidence.  In all my years as a Pastor the women and men best prepared for marriage and life have always been those with a good healthy relationship with their fathers (as well as with their mothers).  I love the story of the little girl with a policeman father who worked the night shift.  She was always scared when he was about to work.  So each night before he left he would read her a children’s story about how God takes care of us.  He always had time to give her that gift of safety and security.  I remember my dad, who wasn’t a Pastor, teaching me how important it was to be there with the people of the parish – men or women – when they were busy serving God.  One night while replacing a boiler at church he pointed out to me, “Did you notice that Pastor Miles came down often to chat with us?  He even shared a beer with us.  That’s important.  It showed us how much he valued our work.”   Good dad’s like that come with a price.  You miss them terribly when they are gone.  They are worth every penny.

Now I know that there are many who had no such earthly father.  That’s why I thank God that even greater than our earthly fathers – we all have a wonderful heavenly Father.  We all have a heavenly Father who counts the very hairs on our heads… one who clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds of the air – who also knows that we need such things.  As Luther said, our heavenly Father “richly and daily provides us with all that we need… He defends us against all danger, guards and protects us from all evil.”

There are two things that make our heavenly Father unique among all fathers.  First is this – Yes there is a price for having such a good Father but it’s a price He pays.  Now it’s true that all good fathers make sacrifices in order to love and care for their family.  But only our heavenly Father paid this price.  “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believers in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  So that we might be God’s own sons and daughters He purchased us for Himself with the holy precious blood and the innocent suffering and death of His Son Jesus.

The second thing that makes our heavenly father unique is this promise, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”  I love the words Jesus spoke to us about our heavenly Father - “My Father, who has given them (that’s us) to me is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hands.”  People often tell me they know that their earthly father, who has died, is in heaven watching over them.  I believe we have even greater comfort than that.   The truth is that since my dad died the same Father has been watching over me who was taking care of me before my dad died – God my heavenly Father. 

In fact, my earthly dad is now in His hands awaiting the day of the resurrection when all who believe in Jesus will have a grand reunion in heaven.  We have that confidence because our Father paid for our eternity at the cost of His Son.  Because He paid that price you and I will one day see and hug our earthly fathers again.  That’s the price of a good father – the price God paid.  Happy Father’s day.  Amen.

Where is Your Mission Central?

“Return home and tell how much God has done for you!”

Luke 8:39a

A number of years ago I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Ed Westcott preach at a mission festival in Tilden, NE.  You know that he preached a good sermon when some thirty years later I can still remember specific things he said in that morning.  One thing he said that day has been really important to me throughout my ministry.   He said, “Discovering your mission field is easy.  Your mission field starts where your feet hit the ground every morning when you get out of bed.”

This place, Mission Central in little Mapleton, Iowa, is the perfect example of that.  This wonderful place in rural Iowa is where the feet of Old Missionary Gary and 91 other volunteers hit the ground. 

Ask most any missionary in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and they will tell you how much they love this place and the people who serve here.  Gary and the 91 volunteers are “Not normal” people.  Their mission is to raise up people who will love, pray for, and give support to missionaries around the world.  I cannot thank God enough for the miracles He works through His “Not normal” people of Mission Central.

Where is your mission central?  Where has God called you to serve Him?  To be one of His missionaries?  Where do your feet hit the ground when you get up in the morning?  So many of us forget that it’s not just Pastor’s… not just foreign missionaries whom God calls to tell the good news.  It all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus… who have been saved by His death and resurrection.  To all of us He says, “Shine like stars in the Universe as you hold forth the word of life.”

For Linda and I right now our feet hit the ground most mornings in Frankfurt Germany.  Please know that serving overseas does NOT mean that our mission calling I greater than yours.  That’s why I picked the words from Luke 8 for this blog.  Jesus has just delivered a man from a legion of demons.  He is about to return to his side of the Sea of Galilee.  The man wants to return with him.  He wants to go with Jesus on His mission.  But Jesus says no.  He says, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”  In other words, “Your mission is not over there.  It’s right here where I have called you and placed you.  It’s right here at home, where your feet hit the ground every morning.”

Where is your mission central?  It’s right where God has placed you.  Your place for sharing the love of God is in your family – where God has called you to be a mom or dad, a son or daughter.  It’s in your neighborhood, where you live… and among your friends.  Your mission central is the school where you are a student or a teacher… your work place.   You want to know where God wants to use you to tell people about Jesus?  Look where you are right now.  That’s your mission field. 

Last August Linda and I were in Prague for a meeting.  When it was over She traveled on to Budapest to help Jon and Dora settle in.  I wasn’t looking forward to the four-hour bus ride and two-hour train ride home by myself. I figured I would read some and sleep some.  God had other plans.  He sat a young teen from Switzerland next to me.  At some point, as we talked, I told him that that I was Pastor.  He wanted to know was I a good Christian or a bad Christian.  Would I listen to and respect what he thought even as I shared my own beliefs?  Or was I going to beat him over the head with my beliefs?  I did a lot of listening in those four hours.  Eventually I was able to share with him my faith in Jesus… talk to him about how Jesus gave his life in love for him and for me.  I have no idea what God did with what I shared that day.  I only know that God had driven home a message to me.  For that bus ride to Nuremberg, that was where my feet hit the ground.  At that moment that was my mission central.  Where is your mission central?

Cursed No More!

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law

By becoming a curse for us,

For it is written:

‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’”

Galatians 3:13

Do you believe in curses?  Well this shirt that I am wearing represents a curse that many people actually believe in.  I am a Chicago Cubs fan.  Now for those of you who know nothing about American baseball I will make this simple.  The Chicago Cubs are a team that hasn’t won a championship in over 100 years.  In fact, they haven’t even been to a championship series – what baseball calls the World Series – in over 70 years.  Why?  Well many people will say it’s because of a curse.  The story goes, that back in 1945 as the Cubs were playing in the world series, a man tried to bring his goat with him to the game.  When the Cubs wouldn’t let the goat into the stadium the man supposedly cursed the Cubs – that they would never again play in another world series.  Well so far the curse has held true. To this day the Cubs have never made it back to the World Series. Now the truth is I don’t believe in the curse.  The curse is an excuse for the Cubs fielding some pretty lousy teams.

There is however a curse I do believe is real.  Paul calls it “the curse of the law.”  This is the curse that hangs over the whole human race.  This curse is real. What’s worse this curse is no excuse for our sin.  It is the result of our sin. The Scripture is clear. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”  God warned our first parents back in the Garden.  “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”  Thus they brought down the curse down on themselves when they did just exactly what God told them not to do… when they took the fruit from that tree and ate it. Whenever we disobey His law we show that we too have brought ourselves under the same curse.

For our first parents the curse took effect immediately.  Hearing the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden - they hid from Him.  They started blaming each other for what had happened.  Eventually the worst pain of the curse struck their own family as one of their sons killed the other.  Even so we experience the same curse every time we try to cover up what we’ve done rather than confess it… every time we blame someone else for our own actions…. Every time we promise to do better only to repeat the same sinful actions again and again.  We experience the curse of sin as every new physical ailment reminds us that we are all growing older… all are in the process of dying.  Every visit to the cemetery, every new funeral reminds us that this is the ultimate curse God’s law has promised.  “You shall surely die.”  “Dust you are and to dust you shall return.” 

Yet in spite of all the ways that you and I daily experience the curse of sin, that the reality is that in Christ we are cursed NO MORE!  How can that be?  Well believe it or not the Cubs provide a great illustration.  A few years ago some Cub fans tried to rid the team of the curse.  They brought a goat all the way down from Chicago to another stadium in another city.  They thought they might be able t transfer the curse to this other team.  As silly as that sounds, that is in reality a great illustration of what our God did for us.  He transferred the curse.  He provided someone to take our place.  That is what was happening when In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  This is what was happening when Jesus became like us in every way except that He was without sin.  God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  That is what was happening when the Father in heaven offered Jesus up once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous that He might bring us to God.   That’s what was going on when on the cross Jesus cried out “My God!  My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?”    In that moment Jesus was suffering the full weight of the curse for our sins.  He was damned in our place.  Then on Easter Morning He was raised from the dead so that by His death and resurrection He might destroy Him who holds the power of death that is the devil and set at liberty all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death.  All this is what Paul means when He writes to us in today’s text, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”  Death has lost its sting in Christ.   There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  At the beginning of this blog I asked you if you believe in curses.  Now I have a much more important question.   Do you believe in Jesus?  After all because of Jesus you and I are cursed no more.