WANTED: GRACE GIVERS

As the apostle Peter was saying his goodbyes to the Elders of the church at Ephesus he spoke of how he "did not shrink from disclosing to [them] the whole purpose of God" (Acts 20:27).  Truth is, he had poured out his heart for God and had done all he knew to do to lift up Christ. 

     

At the conclusion of his farewell address he told them something he said Jesus had said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  It was a truth to which Paul had committed himself and by which he had conducted his life as a missionary for God.

     

Giving is a way of being in the world.  It is the way of Jesus, the One who came not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28).  It is the way of being the Church in a world steeped in selfishness and materialism.  We are never more like God than when we give. 

     

Jesus said, "Freely you received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).  He also said, "For God so loved the world that He gave…" (John 3:16).  He gave the ultimate offering; Jesus, God's response to the deepest need of the human heart."

     

Anne Frank wrote, "No one has ever become poor by giving." I think she was right.  Let's be known for our lives of giving, lives patterned after Jesus.

GOD HAS COME TO US

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light" (Is. 9:2), so said the prophet. One might think he was speaking to twenty-first century USA when he proclaimed these words.  Actually he addressed them to a culture that existed seven hundred years before Christ.  It's just that even though the calendar is always moving forward, the human heart has stayed pretty much the same.

           

The preacher was right when he said, "There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  Darkness is still darkness whether it is surrounding ancient Israel or modern America.  People refuse God now as they refused Him then, and brokenness of the human heart is the one consistency that seems never to change with time.

           

There is no way adequately to express the joy of knowing that a great light has come to penetrate the darkness and to bring hope and healing and comfort into the human story.  God has come to us in Jesus, bringing to us love, acceptance, forgiveness, understanding, and peace.  Those who personally know Jesus will affirm this great promise.  It is available to everybody, though.

           

In the darkness there is a light, the very light of God.  Jesus.  Immanuel.  God with us.  "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4).  "Wonderful Counselor…Mighty God…Eternal Father… Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6).  "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).             

           

Embrace the Light, Enjoy the joy, and pass the Good News on to others.   "The times, they are a changing" (Bob Dylan).

     

MESSIAH BRINGS PEACE

 Wherever we look in the world there seems to be violence and unrest, wars and rumors of war, and maiming and killing. Things are not well in the world.  Many people are calling for peace, working for peace, and negotiating for peace, but peace remains elusive and far away.

None of this is new to the world, mind you.  It's been the history of our species dating as far back as Cain and Abel.  The only difference these days seems to be with how quickly communication is let loose and how massively destructive are the current weapons of warfare.

So it is that when God spoke His life into human history He became the "prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:6).  His Church became the people of peace, and His kingdom spread throughout the planet as the reign of peace.  When God's people are reflecting their God and the will of God is being realized, there is peace.

The prophet Isaiah described a coming time when "the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together (Is. 11:6).  This is a description of peace, and it seems so foreign to reality that it is almost unimaginable.  Yet, in a people where the Prince of peace is Lord this unimaginable peace becomes the modus operandi.

We don't see it worldwide just yet, and there is much work yet to do, but the true Church of Jesus should already be modeling the peace of God which passes understanding. In His Church race, color, socio-economic status, educational level, background or roots fall away, and swords and spears are melted down and restructured to be tools of community instead of weapons of war.

In Jesus we are already beginning to see the truth of God, "They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).  We're not there yet, but there is a place and there is a people where the dream is beginning to be realized.

"The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1:14, Msg).

GOD COMES TO US

Off in the distance, maybe closer than we think, we hear a voice calling, "Clear the way for the Lord" (Malachi 3:1).  Immediately we know God is up to something, something big--big enough to clear the desert for the building of a highway, big enough to lift up valleys and to make rough ground plain, and to turn rugged terrain into a broad valley.  This is big BIG.

           

This is so big that God Himself is going to show up.  He "will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him" (Isaiah 40:10).  He is going to show up in power and authority.  This isn't big.  This is huge.

           

And when He gets here He will be "Like a shepherd," [and] He will tend to His flock.  Did we read that correctly?  That doesn't sound so huge.  That sounds simple and ordinary.  Where are the power and authority and dynamite and flash and fireworks?  There aren't any.

           

At least it looks like there aren't any.  This "Lord" and "Shepherd" doesn't need fireworks to make His point.  He simply comes among the folks and manifests His life.  "The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood" (John 1:14 Msg).  Are you kidding me?  That's it?  Yes, that is it.

           

And, it is a big IT.  It is God the Maker of heaven and earth entering into His creation and doing so in the power and authority and gentleness of the God who loves and cares and embraces. 

           

This is huge.  This is eternity huge.  God comes to us, not to write us off but to include us in.  He comes to reveal His glory--to us.  Who would have thought it?  Only God Himself.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

 Jesus called His followers to go into the world and to do two things:  Serve and make disciples. 

           

He called His people to serve: to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, to be hospitable to the stranger, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick and the prisoner.  In other words, Jesus' people are servants who touch the lives of people as though in doing so they are actually touching the life of Jesus Himself.

           

Followers of Jesus live in light of who their Savior is.  Jesus said, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28).  In Matthew 10:8 Jesus said, "Freely you received, freely give."  As He served, so we serve.  As He gave His life a ransom for many, so we live out the implications of being ransomed by Him. 

           

Jesus called His people to make disciples, too (Matthew 28:18-20). The apostle Peter preached that God wanted no one "to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9).  So, the church, in her serving the peoples of the world, also shares the redemptive heart of God to draw near and to bring His life into the life of every person. 

           

Every person matters to God in every way: physically, spiritually, socially, and emotionally, mentally.  No part of our lives goes unnoticed by God.  As an old song says, "It matters to Him about you."  It does, you know. 

We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of our lives; so it is we live the way we live and do the things we do.  Freely we have received and freely we seek to give.

LESS CAN BE MORE

 In Zechariah 4:10 the Lord God asks, "Who has despised the day of small things?"  He certainly didn't, and He is God.  Perhaps we do well to pay attention.

           

In Matthew 17:20 Jesus speaks of faith that moves mountains and says of it that it only has to be the size of a mustard seed -- very, very small.  Perhaps we do well to pay attention.

           

The ways of the world constantly remind us that bigger is better, that more is better.  God says, NO, to this.  When God is in it size doesn't seem to matter.  Zero plus God equals God.  When God is on your side, the odds are always in your favor. 

           

The key for us in this is to make sure that our lives are open to God and faithful to what God is about in the world.  And, isn't what God wants the very thing we want?  In pursuit of God's good and acceptable and perfect will we live so that God may work His works.

           

An old chorus says, "Little is much when God is in it."  Mustard seed size faith is all we need.  Don't despise the day of small things, because small things in God's sovereign hand become means of grace, mercy, truth justice, love, acceptance, and forgiveness. 

           

Never underestimate the power of God in a human life.  Never underestimate the power of God in anything.  Don't ever believe that you are too small or too limited to serve God.  Little is much when God is in it.  Even your weaknesses can't stop the wonder working power of God.  The apostle Paul reminds us that God's strength is perfected in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). 

           

Never let the bigness of things undermine the possibilities of God.  All throughout the Bible we are called to remember that nothing is impossible with God.  In that light, trust the presence of God, and live faithfully.

INSIGHT

 In the Church we speak of being totally committed to Jesus.  We talk about taking up our cross and following Him, and about jettisoning anything in our lives that stands in the way of Jesus being Lord in us.  It is a very serious issue for us, and we take it to heart, seeking to live in light of the grace and mercy of God that have come to us. 

           

I have been thinking about what all this means in the day-in and day-out matters of living our lives.  Where is it exactly the rubber meets the road, so to speak? Its got to be more than simply words and spiritual duty.  This is a life matter.  It should consume all it means for followers of Jesus to be followers of Jesus. 

           

In my thinking and praying and seeking I developed what I call an "Insight." INSIGHT is an acrostic standing for, I Now Surrender Into God's Hand."  When I got to the T, I drew a blank not knowing what word to choose.  I got to thinking about words that begin with the letter T.  Tomorrow.  Today. Things.  Thoughts.  Temptations. Time.  Talents.  Treasure. Tests.  Trials. Troubles. Tribulations.  Living in Southern California I couldn't resist listing Traffic. 

           

What is it you might need to surrender into God's hand now?  What's on your list?  Colossians 3:24 reminds us, "It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." What might Jesus want you to put on your list?  Give it to Him, and let Him work liberation into your soul and joy to your heart.

THERE WAS THIS ONE PRIEST

 Death is no respecter of persons.  It comes to everyone regardless of race, creed, or color.  It comes to theists, atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and every other religion in the world.  Death speaks to the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

           

The writer of the New Testament letter of Hebrews tells us that death inflected even the priesthood of Judaism.  Good men came into the priesthood, offered powerful ministries for God but, in time, death spoke and these men passed away, ending their service.

           

There was one priest, however, who stunned the world by dying but then was raised from the dead.  Because He lives His priesthood lives forever.  In fact, He "has a permanent priesthood" and because of it, "He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them" (Heb. 7:24-25, NIV).

           

This priest, Jesus, is "holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26, NIV).  This Jesus "sacrificed for sins once for all when He offered Himself" (Heb. 7:27, NIV).  He didn't present a sacrifice for sins; He became the very sacrifice.  He is the Son of God who went the distance for sin and came out on the other side of death, revealing to the world that His ministry is forever, of God, and applicable to all people everywhere.

           

What a mighty God we serve.

Don't Just Settle

 C.S. Lewis says this in his book, Mere Christianity, “Christ says, ‘Give me All.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked.  I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’”[1]

The writer of Hebrews tells us that as followers of Jesus we must eat what he calls, "solid food."  This food is "for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). We must not settle for anything less than all that God has for us.  Therefore we are called to "press on to maturity" (Heb. 6:1). 

What Lewis speaks about in the above paragraph reflects the words in Hebrews, indicating that following Jesus is for those who are serious about Him, about faith, about the kingdom of God.   The love of God is so real and powerful Issac Watts said, back in 1707, it "demands my soul, my life, my all!"[2]

Now is the time, it seems to me, (maybe way past time), that the people of God step up and radically give themselves do whatever it takes to have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  It is time for "solid food."  It is time to "press on to maturity."  Some are well on their way. 

Let's make it unanimous. 

---

[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York : Collier Books, 1960) , p. 167.

[2] "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, " by  Issac Watts, 1707

THE WORD THAT LIVES

 We hold a Bible in our hands and say about it, "This is the Word of God."  It is, but there is so much more involved than black words on white paper.  "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word is eternal and all-powerful.  It holds authority for all of us.  Even to one who is illiterate and can't read black words on white paper, the Word of God is so powerful it is capable of "piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow."  It is so powerful and authoritative that it is "able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word calls us to life.  It sees everything for what it truly is.  "All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).  At first glance this might shake the foundation of our lives because, as difficult as it might be to accept, God sees the real us at all times.  We can't hide anything from Him, and we know our lives can't stand up under the scrutiny of that kind of insight and knowledge.

           

Yet, God in His amazing grace does not use His knowledge of us against us, just the opposite.  He knows us through and through; nothing is hidden from Him, and still He brings Jesus into our lives.  "We have a great high priest" (Heb. 4:14).  When He could have written us off because of what He knows about us, He, instead, called us to Himself where we are invited to "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

           

What an awesome God we serve!

TOGETHER IN CHRIST

 It is an awesome privilege to be a part of Jesus' Church.  In Him we are a holy community, the very house of God (Heb. 3:1,6).  Think of it.  In Christ, His followers become the very dwelling of God.  There are no lone ranger Christians.  We are in this thing together.  We are Jesus' brothers and sisters, as it were, a community comprised of people of whom Jesus "is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11).

           

In Christ, followers of Jesus are "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1).  This is no ordinary thing of which we are a part, not man made or rooted in man's wisdom or imagination.  This community is born of God, called into existence by His grace and brought to life by the blood of Christ that shapes and forms the community.

           

Jesus is the center of our life together.  He is in charge of His house, and all it means for us to be who we are comes because of who He is.  He is God's Son who was faithful to the Father fully and totally.  Now in Him we are brought into that faithfulness.  We live faithfully to the confidence and hope we have in Him.

           

Together in Christ we encourage one another.  We watch out for each other so that none of us will be drawn away.  With Jesus as our Lord and each other as brothers and sisters we journey together.  We are the family of God.  What a great life we share together.

God, Up-close and Personal

 When we look around us and seek to observe the current situation of the world it is a challenge.  Some times it looks like the world is running out of control and that even God can't keep up with the unfolding mess.  It is an illusion, however, because in Jesus God has irrevocably involved Himself in the human situation.

Because we are flesh and blood human beings, Jesus took upon Himself "flesh and blood" (Heb. 2:14), and experienced the reality of being human all the way to death.  We don't have a savior who sends salvation from a distance.  We have a Savior who strategically places Himself into our story, suffers what we suffer, is tempted the way we are tempted, bleeds the way we bleed, and who dies just like we die.

The world is a mess, experiencing what a world experiences when it rejects her Creator and turns instead to her own ways and means.  Sin is a dangerous game and it produces devastation of a thousand kinds.  But the world isn't alone.  The Creator has come among us in Jesus, and ushers in His grace within the story.  Because He is one of us and suffered just like we do, "he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Heb. 2:18).  He is up-close and personal. 

Jesus is "a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God" (Heb. 2:17), and, the Bible says, He is not ashamed to refer to us as His brothers and sisters (see Heb. 2:11).  Isn't that amazing?  Jesus is honored to call you and me His family.  Who would have thought it? 

BEING THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

 In Ephesians 2:19-22 the church is told, "[Y]ou are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

           

The Church is "God's household," on a mission for God in the world. Jesus is the corner stone and the whole building is being fitted together around Him.  The mission is not static but very active, "growing into a holy temple in the Lord."  This temple, this living temple, is the dwelling of God in the Spirit.  As God dwells in His household His Word and works are spread throughout the world.

           

Red, yellow, black, brown, or white, it makes no difference.  We are all precious in the sight of God.  Whoever will turn to Christ will be received by Him.  He will not force Himself on anybody but there is room for all kinds of folks at the table of Jesus.

           

The Good News the Church brings into the world is, "We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:11).  God's grace is greater than race, creed or color.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is for everyone.

           

May the Church ever remember the counsel of the apostle Paul, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).  "Walk in them."  Walk in the ways and means of God.  Living and moving and having our being in Jesus, that's how to touch a community for Christ.

Shaped and Formed By Messiah

 Faith in Jesus calls for honesty and truthfulness.  It calls for authenticity and purity and mercy.  Jealousy and selfish ambition have no place in the life of one who is being shaped and formed by the Messiah who emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race.

                       

The letter of James tells us "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James. 4:6).  Humility doesn't go over very well with many people.  Humility, to them, is for the weak.  To Jesus, however, humility brings a smile to the face of God.  It brings grace into the human situation and spreads love to folks who really do need to know they are loved. 

                       

The Christian presence in the cultures of the world is extremely important.  We followers of Jesus are compelled to show by our good behavior the deeds of our lives, carried out with the dignity and clarity of Christ-centered wisdom (See James 3:13).  How we live matters.  We are witnesses of the Good News that is Jesus, and it is important that we live in the spirit of a wisdom that is "from above," a wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle and reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (James 3:17).  In short, it is a way of being that is centered in Jesus and reveals that it is in Him we live and move and have our being.

                       

Many people have written Jesus off, saying that He is anything but a Savior.  We Christians humbly disagree.  We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of the human heart.  Never will we write Him off.  Always we will bow our lives before Him and seek to live so that His will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.

                       

We believe Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Holy One of God who loves us with an everlasting love.

ONE PEOPLE UNDER GOD

 One of the founders of the Church of the Nazarene was Dr. Phineas F. Bresee.  He was committed to his church being a people committed to a Christ-centered, Christ-driven, Christ-exalting presence in the world.  Bresee understood this to mean that the Church would minister to whoever came across her path.  He said, ”Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem.”

           

The New Testament letter of James tells us that we are not to be respecter of persons.  The wealthy are not honored above the poor, and the poor have as much right to the table of grace as everyone else.  In fact there is no "everyone else" in the kingdom of God.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  Each of us stands in need of God's Amazing Grace, and each of us is called to live out our lives together in the Mind and Spirit of Jesus.

           

Isn't it great to be a follower of Jesus?  John Oxenham wrote, "In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North; But one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth."  Richard Gillard wrote, "We are pilgrims on a journey; we are brothers on the road.  We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load."

           

Jesus said, "In everything treat people the same way you want them to treat you" (Matt. 7:12).  This is the way everyday life in the church ought to be.  To the degree it isn't, we fall short.  To the degree it is, we live as a fragrant aroma of Christ in the World.

           

May God help us to take what has been given us by His Amazing Grace and pass it on.