The Scandalous Jesus (Part 3)

The Scandal of the Cross
December 30, 2007

Introduction
Want an embarrassing moment? Consider this answer to the question “Why are one-fifth of Americans unable to locate the United States on the map?” by Miss South Carolina in the Miss Teen USA Competition:

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us." [1]

Want to say that in front of a live studio audience?

In his now-famous book, The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren starts with this startling statement: It’s not about you. His premise is that, in order to find a meaningful life, the starting point of your journey cannot be with you. It must begin with God.

Let me add Tim’s Corollary: It’s not your opinion that counts. At the end of the day, it is not what you believe that is the point. God said it. You believe it. That settles it? No, no, no. God said it. That settles it. You believe it.

One more (Tim’s 2nd Corollary): It’s not their opinion that counts. God’s opinion is the important thing. And, when it comes to Jesus, all sorts of people try to put their expectations on Jesus.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. – Matthew 16:13-17

Notice whose opinion was important: God’s. The disciple had heard lots of things. If you try and start with yourself and then figure out who Jesus is and why he is important, you will go off in all directions. Why? Because Jesus ends up being a bigger version of you. Sort of like the Gusteau in Ratatouille. Limited by preconceived ideas.

But when you start with what God says, you find out that Jesus is more interesting, more fantastic, more loving and more disturbing than anyone we could invent. That’s why, for the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the scandal of Jesus.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. –1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Last week we looked at how he blew past people’s preconceived notions and messed with their plans when he came at Christmas. A few weeks before that, we looked at how he shattered our notions of what “greatness” was, challenging us to get our hands dirty and take second place.

But if there was one area where Jesus got in-your-face, the one thing with which people struggled with the most, the one put-up-or-shut-up issue, it was the cross. Go back and look at those verses again: “…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”

Whenever Paul started talking about the gospel; the good news about Jesus, his ability to transform lives and his planned return to planet Earth, that was all well-and-good. But when you said Jesus died hanging on a cross, the Jews said, “Whoa!” Jesus came back to life, the Greeks said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”

To Paul’s contemporaries, the cross was not a pretty trinket on a necklace or an architectural detail on a building; it was the electric chair, the hangman’s noose, the lethal injection, the bullet and the blindfold. The God of glory hung out for public humiliation? Unthinkable!

The History Of Glory
To understand why this was so difficult to swallow, you need to go back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, if there was one key defining characteristic of God, it was his glory. The word, glory, shekinah, was related to the brilliance or brightness of a light source. God, in his glory, was so bright that you could not look at him. In many places, this brightness was related to his holiness, his purity and his separation from mankind.

On Mt. Sinai, after God had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, across the Red Sea:

When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai…To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. – Exodus 24:16-17

When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the newly built temple, it says:

And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. – 1 Kings 8:11

The glory itself was nothing, it was an expression of who God was, in the same way that the light pouring from the sun is not the sun itself, but is generated by the sun.

And this glory was not just the physical radiance of God’s presence; it was also used to talk about God’s reputation. You gave credit to God for all of the things he did:

Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. – Psalm 115:1

And the angels in heaven sang this song:

And they [the angels] were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." –Isaiah 6:3

Over 250 times in the Old Testament, the word ‘glory’ is used. His great reputation; because of the great things he had done; because of who He is and how great He is. Glory was something which belonged to God alone. Sometimes he would grant some to his followers, but if you tried to grab it yourself, watch out. Just like we talked about a few weeks ago.

King Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon, a huge kingdom centered on modern day Iraq. One of the great rulers in the Old Testament, but he forgot this fundamental rule.

…As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle… until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” – Daniel 4:29-32

Oops. Nebuchadnezzar the original cow-boy. God has built-in to each one of us a God-sized gap. A gap meant to be filled by him alone. But, in our selfishness, we are apt to substitute other things in God’s place. We substitute ourselves. We substitute our things. We substitute nature. But only God should get the glory.

And this was keen in the minds of the people in Jesus’ time. Glory belonged to God. Why the setbacks in the times of the prophets; the setbacks with the Babylonians, Assyrians, the Greeks and the Romans? Jesus’ contemporaries had figured it out. They hadn’t been pure enough; their devotion wasn’t strong enough. If only they made themselves ready, God would restore them, push out all of the foreigners and establish his kingdom on earth under the ruler of a king, the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ. Every bar mitzvah and every Passover, the thoughts of the Jews turned to when God would send the man who would defend his glory and his reputation…

The History Of Shame
Then came Jesus Christ. Christ wasn’t his last name, it was his title; the Greek translation of the Jewish term Messiah; anointed one; chosen of God. And in a surprise move by God, he wasn’t just a great man, he was God.

The Bible says ,

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being…- Hebrews 1:3

So when you see Jesus, you’ve seen God and not only God, but his glory!

The scandal of the cross was not the pain. I have heard lots of sermons which talk about how painful Jesus’ death was and how he endured it all for me. And there is no question that hanging on the cross, slowly dying of asphyxiation, unable to breath while you ripped your hands and feet to shreds was an extremely unpleasant way to die; a true tribute to the twisted creativity of mankind.

But the scandal wasn’t the pain. It was the shame, it was the humiliation.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! – Philippians 2:8

That phrase “even death on a cross” literally is actually “even a cross death.” Even a death as shameful as that.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2

You see, it was not the pain which lay between Jesus and the right hand of the father, it was shame; it was humiliation; it was the anti-glory. Every step along the way from Gethsemane to the cross was a step of humiliation; a step where the son of God laid aside his glory and took on our shame so that he could achieve what he wanted most: the redemption of us all.

The first hit to Jesus’ reputation was with his arrest. He rides into Jerusalem and people are lined up, praising God for the arrival of the Messiah. But 24 hours later, after his arrest, the public opinion polls for Jesus tank when whispers of his conviction by the Supreme Court of the Jews get around. He claimed to be God! He claimed to want to tear down the temple. Like wildfire, word spread and His public approval rating is so low, that many join his enemies outside Pilate’s courtyard and call for his crucifixion. His closest friends abandon him: Judas snitches on him (Mark 14:44), Mark runs away from the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:51,52), Peter denies him (Mark 14:71).

In the first century, crucifixion was a morbid form of free public entertainment. Should we go to the show today? No. How about down to the river? No. What do you want to do? Well, I heard there’s a really good crucifixion going on outside the city at Golgotha. Oh yeah, I heard there’s thief, a tax dodger and a wanna-be Messiah. Sure, let’s go; that sounds good. In this, it was similar to a hanging in the Old West or the stocks in colonial New England.

A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. – Luke 23:27

Crucifixion was a public spectacle.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him….The soldiers also came up and mocked him… One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. – Luke 23:35, 36, 39

Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself. Aren’t you the king? Get us down. Painful words for the savior from heaven. Since the act of dying was so long, people would come and go, eat their lunch, come back to see if he was dead yet, for hours and hours.

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. – John 19:23

Crucifixion was designed to be degrading and humiliating and shameful, naked (no loincloth) and bloody for the world to see. There you could hang for hours as you slowly scraped yourself up and down the rough wood, running out of air. A few of Jesus’ friends lingered around the cross, but at least Peter, Mark and Judas had run away or denied him.

Such a common death for the son of God. There was nothing new or special or extraordinary about Jesus’ death. Poor people got it all the time. The rich could afford a dignified death. But not Jesus. Crucifixion was so common that there was a crucifixion area set aside for it outside of both Jerusalem and Rome. It was so common that the Romans once crucified 6,000 at once on one of the roads.

Nothing special here, no need for the lens of history to linger here. Just another small-town Messiah; big head, but not really cut out to be the Christ. Messed with the wrong people; sensitive times you know, don’t want to stir up the Romans when, you know, you’re not the Real Guy; not the Real Messiah. Next…

Why? Why would God sacrifice his own glory? Why would God put his reputation on the line? Why did he make himself look so bad at the cross?

The History Of Risk
Ever had someone save you from embarrassment? Covered for you or inserted an explanatory word at the right moment or nudged you or kicked you in the shins. My wife Helen has saved me from foot-in-mouth disease more than once.

Once, when I was preaching at a church in Mountain View, they had a narrow transparent pulpit, kind of like this one. And as I spoke, about Heaven, I think, I noticed my wife waving franticly at me. I understood she was trying to tell me something important. I continued to preach on auto-pilot while trying to do this game of Charades with her. Finally, there was one thing I understood, opening her hands, showing me she wanted me to have the congregation read the Bible. So we read the Bible. Exasperated, she stood up, quietly made her way to the back of the room and signed for me to zip up. Now I understood. But here I was in front of this see-through pulpit. There was nothing to do but take the embarrassment in front of everyone. Later she told me that was why she wanted people to read the Bible, so they’d be looking down.

We all have stories like this. We’re not perfect, but thank God we have people who love and care for us enough to save us from ourselves. Sometimes there is little or no risk, just a little thoughtfulness involved. But sometimes, it is more than embarrassing; rescuing you means exposing themselves to shame. Like the time they picked you up from the police station; or the time they paid the bill; or the time that they deliberately ignored the comments about you.

I looked on the web and found dozens of forums where you could post your ‘most embarrassing moment’ There was one comment which stuck with me: If these were really the most embarrassing, you wouldn’t be posting it on the Internet, now would you?

We all have those secrets, don’t we? If we told the people in this room; if we told our family; if we told our closest friend, how horrible we would feel…how much explaining we would have to do…how our eyes would not meet …how shameful. We hold those secrets inside.

Friends, that is the scandal of the cross. That Jesus would leave the glory of heaven and take the path of shame; that in the cross, he would take the blame, not for his own past, but for ours. He knows our shameful secrets and, for each of them, he took the full measure of the rejection of God. The day was as dark as night. And Jesus cried out: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The Bible says:

As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” – Romans 9:33

Jesus is the stumbling block. He is the scandal. But no one who trusts in God has to worry about shame? Why? Is it because we never get into embarrassing or shameful situations? No, it is because, in the end, God’s opinion is the opinion that counts. Not ours. When we come to God, when we trust in him, Jesus says, “It’s ok. They’re with me.” Our reputation is nothing, because we have tied our reputation to his.

Three questions this morning:

• 1. Whose opinion are you listening to?

There are plenty of people willing to tell you what you should do, how you should live, and how to set your priorities. Magazines. TV. Radio. Junk mail. Some of us carry a whole jury box around in our heads. Parents. Teachers. Coaches. Neighbors. Every decision submitted for their approval. Every course of action criticized. They might even be dead, but their opinions live on with you.

At the end of the day, though, its not their opinion that counts. It’s Gods.

• 2. Whose reputation are you promoting and protecting?

“One can’t, at once, promote two reputations. Promote God’s and forget yours. Or promote yours and forget God’s. We must choose.”[2] Joseph gave away his reputation when he followed God’s plan and took pregnant Mary as his wife.

You’re a photographer for an ad agency. Your boss wants to assign you to your biggest photo shoot ever. The account? An adult magazine. He knows of your faith. Say yes and polish your reputation. Say yes and use your God-given gift to tarnish Christ’s reputation. What do you choose?

The sales contract is this close to being closed. But something comes up, the customer trusts you because of your faith. One little half-truth could seal the deal and your bonus, but would slander the kingdom of God. What do you say?

The college philosophy teacher daily harangues against Christ. He derides spirituality and denigrates the need for forgiveness. One day he dares any Christian in the class to speak up. Would you?[3]

• 3. What are you willing to risk?

Jesus put God’s reputation on the line. And you were where he put it. Jesus spilt his own blood, made himself foolishness and a stumbling block, for you and for me. Was it a good bargain for God? His reputation for your life. He has left his reputation, his glory, in the most unlikely of places, in the church, in this room. With you. With me. Because he had this strange; this weird; this foolish notion that in bringing many sons and daughters to God the Father, would bring the greater glory; that before the throne, the voices of the redeemed of God would one day drown out the angels of heaven in singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty. Who was and is and is to come.”

Was it a good bet? I don’t know. You tell me. God didn’t leave Jesus in El Dorado Hills, he left us. He left us. What are you willing to risk? Will 2008 be just another year of going through the motions, a mamby-pamby, look-good, feel-good Christianity?

Maybe 2008 is the year you step out of your comfort zone (your crib) and transform the two-week vacation this year into a mission’s trip and let God plug you into the amazing things he’s doing around the world.

Maybe 2008 is the year you go deeper with God and you realize you can’t do it alone. Life is tough and if we try to manage it alone, without those critical relationships that give us perspective and pray with us and lift us up when we struggle, we crash and burn. We’ve got a men’s and women’s group on Wednesday. Or, if you’ve mastered the DVD player, you can do a trial run for 5 weeks at your house with this plug-n-play curriculum. It just takes 6-8 willing people and one couple willing to open their house.

Maybe 2008 is the year you get serious about God. Maybe you’ve enjoyed the role of a Christmas Christian, singing the carols, attending the services. In January you traditionally jettison your faith and get back to your real life. But this December something hits you. The immensity of it all hits you. God put his own reputation on the line, spilling his blood to pay your way back to God. Radical thoughts begin to surface. Your family and friends think you are crazy. Your changing world is changing theirs. They want the Christmas Christian back. You can protect your reputation or protect his.

I don’t know what it is for you. But its going to be risky. Its going to stretch you and even break you, but the world will not be the same because you will be different, God’s kingdom will be expanded and lives will be changed forever. Why? Because your life will be overflowing with the same love and power that Jesus had when he took on the cross for you.


[1] List: Year’s Most Memorable Quotes, Associated Press, Copyright © 2007 Associated Press as cited in USA Today, 19 December 2007
[2] Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado, Copyright © 2005 by Max Lucado, p. 84
[3] Ibid, p. 86

Ephesians 4:11-13: Venture Ministries

In a previous post, I talked about the idea of ministry incubators, an environment in which church leaders nurture and resource new ministry ideas developed by church members. I first began to think about this after listening to Harvey Carey, Dave Gibbons and Gary Hamel at the Willow Creek Association's Global Leadership Summit. Then it was hammered home where, for the weekly Men's Bible Study that next week we were asked to read Ephesians 4 every day. That's where I came across a familiar old gem:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. - Ephesians 4:11-13.

First, God planned this. It says "It was he [God] who gave..." He set this in motion by the way that he gifted his people: not the same gift (no one person could do it all) but for the same purpose.

Second, the role of the leader (and the church) is to launch servants. "he who gave...to prepare God's people for works of service."You can't twist anyones arm into spiritual maturity. But willing servants, whose hearts have been worked on by God, should be set up for success. Ministry is not about budgets or buildings or multi-media or training binders. It is about willing hearts and lives at the disposal of the Master.

Third, God's means for unity and maturity is service. Service is not driven by the needs of the servant, but by the needs of the served. In mutual service, we are all "built up" and we all grow up ('mature'). In service, we understand Jesus more fully, because then our lifestyle echoes his.


Fourth, each church member is a minister. Some of us have grown up with that slogan handed to us from the pulpit, but do our churches really take this to heart? Each one has the Spirit of God. Each one has the gifting of the Holy Spirit. Most of them have more contact with the lost and broken of the world.

That's why I like the term ministry incubators. In the high-tech field where I work, incubators are organizations that provide infrastructure, encouragement, mentoring and training for new ventures. The idea is to get them off of the ground. After a certain point, these ventures are evaluated and a decision is made as to whether (a) to kill the idea, (b) wait a little longer or (c) invest enough other resources to help move it to the next level.

In the church, it is important to (as Experiencing God says) to watch where God is working and join Him there. That means that each of these new ventures and their leaders needs to have the humility to be willing to say: "Maybe the time for this ministry is concluded" or "Maybe I didn't understand correctly where God was leading" or "Maybe this ministry is good, but there is something more urgent right now."  Each ministry venture should be taken on as an experiment rather than a set-in-stone course of action. Ministry leaders sometimes have trouble with this tentative nature of a ministry because they have received a word from God, through their personal prayer time or an experience or from reading the Scriptures. So they find it hard to give up at an evaluation check point. But if this is God's will to move beyond a personal conviction or personal ministry, then God will have already orchestrated the same message to others.

What about leaders? Leaders are responsible to keep themselves in tune with God so that they faithfully recognized what God is doing. Gary Hamel talks about leaders who have passed their "sell by" date: they are firmly attached to the successful idea that they rode in on and not ready to recognize the next one because so much of their identity is wrapped up on their championing of the previous one. Humility is the key. Recognize that you are probably not the best source of good ministry ideas in your church, but rather the shepherd of God's good ministry ideas. Recognize that God will use any of his children--in fact, even children--to demonstrate clearly the source of ministry.

Leaders also have to make the decision as to how "core" they want to make a ministry. Do we encourage something (a ministry, etc.) as part of a person's individual mission or something the church wants to try. If the church tries this, do we try it on a larger scale? Do we incorporate it as one of the ministries under our ministry umbrella? Do we allocate cubicle space, copy paper, mentoring time, education or dollars? Does the church promote it substantially to its members or the community? Or is it one that fundamentally alters the church's course--a sort of God-designed left turn.

I am still learning and many of these ideas are still a work in progress as I try to wrestle with the implications of an enabling, incubator model for church leadership. I hold these ideas loosely and look forward to your feedback.



Second, this God's intention for the leaders of the church was to provide the environment where His people move out for serve.

The Scandalous Jesus (Part 2)

Portions © 1997 by Rick Warren from “When God Messes Up Your Plans”

Introduction
A few weeks ago we looked at the scandalous life of Jesus. He was hard to ignore. He was always saying something or doing something which forced people to take a second look at their lives. Many times they heard what Jesus said and just kept on living their own old, plain, ordinary, insipid and disappointing lives. Often, he made them angry and defensive. But sometimes, once in a while, they’d really hear what he was saying and it would revolutionize their life.

Paul put it this way:

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. –1 Corinthians 1:22-24

Underline that phrase but to those whom God has called. When God has calls and you respond, you change. And that change gives you a different perspective on what is happening. God hasn’t changed. He hasn’t suddenly become wiser or more powerful. We have just become more perceptive. Without that relationship with God, all the spiritual truth in the world could be staring you in the face and you would choose to ignore it. Move over, Al Gore, if you want an Inconvenient Truth, it is this: we have seen the light and prefer darkness; God has shown himself by Jesus’ birth but we would rather gouge out our own eyes rather than admit that it is true.

Kind of like today. No one would like to admit that Christmas is about Christ. Its now a winter something, a season’s something, a holiday (oops, that’s holy-day, right) something. It’s about family, and giving, and food, right? No, its about Christ. Don’t get me wrong, I have the greatest Christmas memories at my grandma’s, watching in anticipation as people opened my haphazardly wrapped presents, eating pie until I could hold no more. As our culture shies away from Christ, they have nothing left to celebrate except the results of celebrating Christ. People came together as families, gave gifts, celebrated together because Christ gave meaning to the day. Want to know why Christmas feels more and more hollow? Because we have settled for the smell of apple pie instead the apple pie itself. Wonderful smell, but it just makes you hungry for the real thing. Or maybe its more like bathroom air freshener.

The scandal of Jesus is that the manger is once-in-history, A.D./B.C., never-again-repeated, God’s-beachhead in reclaiming humanity. You can choose him or abuse him, but the one thing you can’t do is ignore him. God has a strange way of messing up people’s plans.

When Jesus Christ was born that first Christmas, nobody expected it. It was totally unplanned. Nobody had made any plans for it at all. In fact, it messed up everybody’s plans.

You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. - Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)

It messed up the shepherd’s plan because they were planning on another quiet night with the sheep. It messed up the religious leaders’ plans because they were expecting a political leader Messiah who would come and set them free from Roman captivity and Jesus came along and said stuff like, “Turn the other cheek,” and “Go the second mile,” and “Love your enemies”. They were saying, “Wait a minute, Jesus. That’s not what we wanted.” It messed up the innkeeper’s plan. He ran out of space.

It sure messed up King Herod’s plans.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem an asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. - Matthew 2:1-2.

This King Herod had been made king over most of Israel because he had, at the last minute, sided with Caesar Augustus in the wars of succession that followed the death of Julius Caesar. He was called Herod the Great because he was one of the greatest builders of the ancient world. He rebuilt the Jewish temple so that it dwarfed the one built by Solomon. And then, there was his masterpiece: Herodium, where he won his greatest military victory and where he was buried. Walls five stories tall, a swimming pool big enough you could float boats in it, a 38 acre lower palace with gardens, it was both a fortress and a vacation spot. And…at 3 miles from Bethlehem, it dominated the skyline.

But King Herod had a problem: he wasn’t Jewish, and that never really sat well with the population. Assassination and paranoia were a regular part of his diet. He fell madly in love with a Jewish princess Miriam and married her, gaining some legitimacy. But that led to another problem: his kids were more “Jewish” than he was and he grew suspicious that they were plotting a palace coup. So he killed them, and their mother, and anyone else who looked at him cross-wise.

So when some Iraqi wise men show up talking about stars, signs and kings of the Jews, he is just a little perturbed. Herod was confronted with the truth, and rather than finding and following Jesus, he was true to form, killing all the boys under 2 years old. Just like Moses. Except that Joseph and Mary had to run away to Egypt to get away…kind of ironic. God sure messed up Herod’s plan. He died shortly after Jesus was born and was buried 3 miles from the true King of Israel.

But most of all, it messed up Mary and Joseph’s plans. Mary and Joseph were just a young couple, barely teenagers and all they wanted to do was get married and have little Mary’s and Joseph’s. In their wedding preparation, during their engagement period all of a sudden God comes along and says, “I’m changing the plan a little bit.”

The angel said to Mary and Joseph, “Mary, three things are going to happen. One, you’re going to get pregnant before your wedding day. Two, it’s not going to be Joseph who’s the father. It’s going to be a virgin birth. It’s going to be a miracle like has never happened. And three, by the way, the baby is going to be God.” That messed up their plans just a little bit. They weren’t at all expecting that to happen.

…His mother Mary was pledge to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. –Matthew 1:18b

Has God ever messed up your plans? I could give you an awful lot of examples in my life, a laundry list of when God messed up my plans. My wife, Helen, planned to be a CPA; an accountant; she wanted to sit in a bank and be cool (literally and figuratively). But God messed up her plans and she became a horticulturist instead. Good thing for me.

Some of you have had your plans messed up this last year. Most of us did in various ways. Several years ago, there was a story about a woman in New York who took her son to visit Santa Claus and set on his lap in the mall. When she got there she discovered that Santa Claus was her ex-husband who was not paying child support. I don’t think he was planning this. Three hours later she came back with a court injunction and slapped it on him and he wasn’t going, “Ho, Ho, Ho!” He hadn’t planned that.

A lot of things we plan just don’t happen.

• The launching of the Barry Bonds line of Red Bull health and fitness shakes
• The new Paris Hilton reality show The Simple Life Sentence (she got out too early)
• We never saw the Cornerstone credit-card tithing program or the Cache Creek donation for the new Cornerstone sanctuary
• We never saw the Lakers sign Danny DeVito. 

The point is: things don’t always go the way we plan them. I’m not saying that everything that happens, God plans. That’s not true. God is not the author of evil. If someone gets raped, God didn’t plan that. When someone gets abused, when someone gets cancer… the Bible says God is not the author of evil. That’s why we’re to pray for His will to be done. God’s will is not always done.

The fact is: a lot of my plans get messed up because I mess them up. My own stupidity messes up my own plans a lot of the times. We’re all very well acquainted that other people can mess up your plans. But sometimes God, through influence or direct intervention, changes circumstances because He’s got another idea in mind. And that’s obviously what happened at Christmas time about 2000 years ago.

What do you do when God messes up your plans? When God messes up your plans, what do you do? Three things.

1. Remember that God is trying to get your attention. When your plans get messed up, God is saying, “Hello!” He’s just trying to get your attention.
2. He has a different plan. When He messes up yours, He’s always got a better one, a different one.
3. He wants you to trust Him.

I think that’s what God wants to say to us this Christmas.

FIRST. GOD IS TRYING TO GET OUR ATTENTION when He messes up our plans. In Mary and Joseph’s case the plan was so fantastic, so unbelievable, so once-in-history kind of event that God had to use an angel to convince them that it was going to happen.

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. – Matthew 1:19

Notice, it says Joseph was a righteous man. He was going to do the right thing and divorce her quietly. But God sent an angel to this righteous man, who said, “This is what’s going to happen. I need you to step in as the father of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. I’m God. I’m coming to earth in human form and we’re going to split history into A.D. and B.C.”

And what about Mary?

“How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?” – Luke 1:34

She knew how this sort of thing was supposed to work. Don’t you think she’d need a little encouragement if she found herself unexpectedly pregnant? You could imagine her thinking, “How’d this happen? You’d have thought I’d have remembered.” That could really mess with your mind. She needed an angel to help work out what was going on; to know that she had found favor with God, to keep her head up in the face of what would happen next.

The truth is, though, that most of us don’t need an angel to tell us what we need to do. That’s because God already gave us the Bible written down to guide us, the Spirit to help pay attention to what’s significant and other followers of Jesus to help us keep perspective. That’s 99% of the guidance needed. Sure, for the other 1% he can throw in an angel or a vision. Sometimes I’m looking for an angel when the Bible is in front of me, because I want something different than what I know he wants me to do.

No, the problem isn’t that God hasn’t spoken; it’s that we aren’t listening. Most of us have ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder. We put Him on call waiting, on hold. The phone’s busy. We’re so busy listening to the radio or watching TV or listening to other people or listening to ourselves for that matter, we don’t have time to listen to God. So God has to rearrange our plans to say, “Wake up! Let me get your attention.” God speaks to us in our pleasures, but He shouts to us in our problems and our pain.

For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. – Matthew 13:15

Why does God want you to give your attention to Him? Because we get ourselves into a pile of trouble when we don’t follow what God tells us to do.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but it ends in death. - Proverbs 16:25

A lot of things in life look like the right thing to do but when you get to the end, it’s a dead end, a disaster.

Have you ever done anything in life, made a decision that you thought, “This is a guaranteed, sure-fire success!” and when it actually came to pass it was an unmitigated failure? Sure. We’ve all had plans that just didn’t go the way we intended them to go. Why? Because you don’t know the future and neither do I. Because we don’t know the future, we don’t know how things are going to turn out in spite of our plans.

That’s why God says, “I want you to listen to Me.” Because God does know the future. God can see around the corner. He can see the problems, the detours, the roadblocks coming up. If you just listen to Him, you avoid an awfully lot of pain in life.

In the Bible, there are many things where God says, “If you do these things, you’ll be successful, you’ll be satisfied, you’ll find meaning. Life will be easier. If you do these other things, it’s going to cause misery, guilt, resentment, broken relationships. It’s going to cause anger and worry and all kind of things.”

When He tells us what to do and what not to do it’s not because He’s some ogre or some cosmic cop in the sky, some bully just trying to make up rules. He does it because He loves us.

It’s like a mom who tells a little child, “Don’t touch the hot stove.” She’s not doing that because she’s a tyrant. She’s doing that out of love. Just like God. You can learn things the hard way or the easy way. There’s a way that seems right but it’s a dead end.

Sometimes He has to mess up our circumstances to get our attention. But He does more than that. When God messes up your plans, He’s also saying “I’VE GOT A BETTER PLAN.”

The Bible says very clearly that every person was made for a purpose. You were made for a purpose. God designed you uniquely. He has a reason for you being on earth. Part of your whole life is to figure out what your purpose is and do it.

`I know what I am planning for you,’ says the Lord. `I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.’ –Jeremiah 29:11

A lot of people think, “If I really gave my life to God. If I start following Christ, He’s going to make my life miserable. No fun, no parties, total boredom. I’ve got to go become some kind of Amish person or something.” Yet God says, “No, you don’t understand. I made you. I love you. I designed you for a purpose on this earth.”

Let me tell you something about God’s plan for your life. Three things.

• God’s plan for your life is always bigger than your plan because He’s got a bigger perspective. Mary and Joseph just wanted to get married and settle down and be a nice happy couple. God said, “I want to bless the whole world through you.” If you don’t get anything else I say, get this: God made you for a purpose. You have no idea how much God wants to work through you; how much He could do through you if you were totally committed to His plan for your life, rather than your little plan for your life – your dreams, your ambitions, your goal. Look at Mary and Joseph: 

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him… - Matthew 1:24

I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said.” – Luke 1:38

You would not believe what God could accomplish through you. Because His plans are always bigger.

• God’s plan for your life is harder than your plan. That’s why so many people cut out on Him. Human beings and human nature, it’s our way to take the easy way out, to slide through life, to take the course of least resistance. God says, “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be harder My way.”

Why? Because God is more interested in your character than He is in your comfort. He wants you to grow up. He wants you to be mature. He wants you to be a person of character and integrity and to take responsibility. He is, in no way, going to take all the problems out of your life. It’s a harder way but it produces character. Take all of the problems removed out of your life, you’d be a spoiled brat. Fat, not muscle. If you got your way at everything, you’d be worthless. Nobody could live with you. So God, says, Yes, it’s harder.

When Mary and Joseph said, “Ok, God, we’re going to cooperate with Your plan. Use us.” Do you think that was easy?” No. It wasn’t easy for Mary to say, “Ok, I will be an unwed mother.” Can you imagine the gossip that went on in those days? And who’s going to believe her story? “It’s God!” Would you believe that?

Then at the end of Mary’s pregnancy, two or three days before she’s to deliver when most women just want to lay down, she had to get on a donkey and ride for several days from Nazareth to Bethlehem. No limo. No 5-star hotel. No mother or grandmother or all her relatives. No comforts of home around her. Instead by herself, in another city, in a stable that smelled like goats!

I’m sure Mary wondered if she could handle having Jesus as a son. “I could handle being a celebrity Mom. Really, it wouldn’t go to my head.” But God’s plan was harder, because he needed a baby. He’d tried angels; he’d tried prophets. He needed Jesus.

• God’s plan is harder, it’s bigger. It’s also more rewarding. The Bible says

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. – 1 Corinthians 2:9

When you cooperate with God’s plans and God’s purpose for your life, you have two benefits: significance and satisfaction – the two things that everybody tends to be looking for. Nothing can replace those. Not sex, not status, not success. But it’s significance and satisfaction. Because, once you discover God’s plan for your life and you start fulfilling it then you go, “Oh! This is it! This is what I was made for. I’ve found my niche, my purpose! I’m not here just to take up space and breathe air, waste resources.” You find that significance and satisfaction.

 
What am I supposed to do with my life while I’m here on earth? The 60, 70, 80, 90 years if I get that many years to live? What am I supposed to do?

God says, “I want you to do three things?

1. I want you to get to know Me not know about Me. You know about Jesus Christ. You know about God. He says, “I want you to have a relationship with Me. Not a religion but a relationship.”
2. I want you to know and discover and fulfill the purpose that I put you on earth for. You were put here for a unique purpose.
3. I want you to develop your talents and skills and I want you to build your character, because that’s the only thing you’re taking with you into eternity. 

This last year, we lost a lot of well know people: Dan Fogelberg. Tammy Faye Bakker. Evil Knievel. Luciano Pavarotti. Bill Walsh. Jerry Falwell. Boris Yeltsin. Kurt Vonnegut. Liz Clairborne. Some people die young and some people die old. But everybody dies eventually.

Only a fool would go all the way through life unprepared for what we know is eventually going to happen. That’s what Christmas is about, its an introduction to God, arranged by Jesus, because that’s one of the purposes of life, for you to get to know God.

Can you imagine standing before God one day after you die and God says, “I’m going to ask you two questions: (1) What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ? Did you ever get to know Him? And then (2), “Did you get to know the purpose that I put you on earth for?”

Can you imagine saying to God, “God, I know this sounds kind of funny, but I was too busy. I knew about Jesus, I knew about You. But, sorry, I just didn’t have the time. I know You had a purpose and plan for my life, but I had my plans and I really thought that my plans were better than Your plans so I did it my way.”

God’s going to say, “What were you thinking? Do you think I put you on earth just to do your own thing? To never get to know Me? To never take the time to stop and figure out why I put you on earth and to fulfill the purpose and to get ready for eternity? Wrong answer!”

It’s going to be more than an embarrassment. It has eternal implications. That’s why Christmas is so important. That’s why the third thing God says, When I mess up your plans, I’m not only saying, Listen, I’ve got a better idea.

I’m saying, I WANT YOU TO LEARN TO TRUST ME.

Can you imagine the faith hat it took for Joseph to do what he had to do? If your fiancé came to you one day and said, “Honey, I’m pregnant. And, by the way, it’s God’s fault.” Would you believe that story? Joseph was going to call off the engagement but the Bible says:

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20

He was going to call off the engagement until God sent an angel to him and said, “She’s right! It’s ok.” Can you imagine the faith that Mary had to have when she realized that, of all the women in the entire world, God chose to use her as the instrument by which He would come into the world?

God’s plan was so different from their plan for their own life that all they could do was trust. But that was ok. Because the Bible says there’s only one way to please God. It’s not by religion. It’s not by ritual. It’s not by ceremony. It’s not by a bunch of regulations.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” – Hebrews 11:6

It is by faith. God wants you to learn to trust Him.

Every time God messes up your plans, it’s a test. Am I going to trust God or am I going to trust me? Do I think I know better or do I think God knows better? Do I think I know what’s going to make me happy or do I really think God knows what’s best and what’s going to make me happy? It’s a test.

This Christmas, you may be feeling a little discouraged. A lot of people are – 2007 was a tough year for a lot of people. Or maybe you came in here feeling a little lonely. A lot of people feel lonely at Christmas time. You may be feeling stressed out by the whole situation and all the responsibilities of getting all the gifts and stuff like that. (You know, waiting until the last day to purchase gifts has its advantages. There’s only men in the mall then. Kind of a manly thing!)

For some of you this is the first Christmas since the divorce. For some of you this is the first Christmas since the death of that loved one. And I’m sorry. I hurt with you. And for some of you, this is the first Christmas since you’ve had that disability that you’re going to live with the rest of your life. If the truth were known you’re a little nervous about 2008 because you’re uncertain. You don’t know which way it’s going to go. You don’t know if you’re going to have a job or not or your relationship is going to last or your marriage is going to fall apart or if the kids are going to make it. You have all kinds of concerns and you don’t know and you’re worried.

The fact is, you don’t know. You have no idea. You can call as many psychic hotlines as you want and you still won’t figure out the future. Because its God’s secret. You don’t know what 2008 is going to hold.

But you can know three things:

1. God, in 2008, is still going to have a personal plan for your life. You may have missed it for the first 20, 30, 40, 50 years of your life but it has not changed. And you can get on it today, starting tonight, and make the rest of your life the best of your life.
2. You can know that God is never going to leave you, that He will be with you every step of the way in 2008.
3. You can know that ultimately the only legitimate, rational way to live is to figure out who God is, get to know Him, discover His purpose and start living that purpose. If you’re not living the purpose that God made you for, what in the world are you doing with your life? In fact, you’re not living. You are just existing. You get up, got to work, come home, watch some television and go to bed and repeat the cycle seven days a week. That’s not living. That’s existing. 

What do I do, when life doesn’t make sense? Don’t focus on yourself. Focus on God.

God says: You will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13

In some ways, the wise men really were the wise men. They didn’t know exactly what was going on. They weren’t believers. They weren’t Christians. They just saw something really, really unusual and decide to check it out. “We’re just discovers of truth.” Some of you are like that. You haven’t yet given your life to Christ. But you’re on the road. You’re seeking the truth. There’s nothing wrong with that. Congratulations. We all start out as seekers.

But at some point you have to become a believer, you have to step across the line or you miss the whole point of life.

You say, “I just want to be happy.” Happiness is good. That’s a good thing. But that’s not the purpose of life. “I just want to be loved.” Love is a good thing and God wants you to be loved. But love is not the purpose of life. “I just want security, freedom, to get rid of these memories of my past that are bugging me. I want to be financially secure. I’m looking for peace of mind.”

Those are just the smell of the apple pie. They are the sign of something deeper: a relationship to God. You were made with the God-sized emptiness in your heart. Only God can fill it. If you try to put anything else in there – popularity, possessions, whatever – it’s like putting a square peg in a round hole. It doesn’t fit and you know it. And it’s frustrating.

I don’t care what your background is. You may be Catholic. You may be Buddhist. You may be Baptist. You may be Mormon. You may be Jewish. I don’t care what your background is. I’m not talking about religion. I’m talking about having a trusting relationship with Jesus Christ, where you’re not trying to earn your way to heaven. You just accept His grace.

We all came here for different reasons. Some of you came because it’s the Sunday around Christmas. You go to church once or twice a year. Some of you came because you were invited by a friend or a loved one, a relative, someone who cared about you. Some of you came because maybe you saw an ad in the paper or our sign on the corner. Some of you came because you got caught in the traffic and had to come in! You were actually on the way to Wal-Mart for that last minute gift! But you’re here.

I don’t care why you think you’re here; you’re not here by accident. God wanted to get your attention, even if just for a few minutes. So he could say this:

“I made you for a purpose and I love you and you matter to Me. And even though you’ve been going off on your plan, I want you to get on My plan. I have seen every single moment of your life, from your first heartbeat until now. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in your life and I still love you, because I am God.”

“I will never love you more than I do now and I will never love you any less because My love for you is not based on your performance. It’s based on the fact that I made you. If you’ll get with My plan for your life, you’ll be so much more satisfied and significant than if you just go off and continue to go with your little plans.”

All of us are in one of three spiritual positions in our spiritual journey.

Many of you here tonight already know Jesus Christ. You’ve given your heart to Him. You’ve developed that relationship to God we’ve talked about. And you are actively trying to fulfill the purpose that God made you for. To you I say, “Celebrate Christmas! Remember what a good deal you got the day you gave your life to Christ. Three things happened: He took care of your past, your present and you future.

1. Every sin you’ve ever committed, everything you’ve ever done wrong was completely forgiven and forgotten by God the day you said yes to Christ.
2. You began to get the power which you now live on daily to handle the hassles and the struggles and the problems you face on a regular basis. He gives you that daily power.
3. And not only that, He secured your future in heaven – God’s retirement program.” That’s a deal you can’t refuse and that’s the reason we have to rejoice this Christmas as followers and believers. 

But there’s another group of you here. You’re the seekers. You haven’t yet stepped across the line. You say, “I’m interested. I’m thinking about it. I’m checking in out.” Good for you. Congratulations. When will be a better time to take the next step?

Then there is a third group. You’re believers but you’ve kind of lost your spark. You’ve lost the warmth. You remember being close to God in the past but for one reason or another, you got distracted. You get involved in something else. Or something happened that knocked you off course. God would say to you tonight, “Come on home. It’s Christmas.” He’s not going to scold you. He’s going to welcome you home with open arms because He loves you and says, “Don’t waste another day being separate from Me.”

We’re going to close this service with a Christmas prayer. I invite you to pray it. You don’t have to close your eyes. You don’t even have to say it aloud.

Dear God, thank You for being patient with me. I’ve always known You were there but I’ve never really gotten to know You very well. I thank You for bringing me here tonight. I’ve known something was missing in my life, I just didn’t know it was you.

Thank You for seeking me even when I ignored you. Today I realize that you’ve been trying to get my attention. I admit that I’ve been focusing on my plan for life, not yours.

I realize that you made me for a purpose. So tonight, I want to take the first step by getting to know Jesus Christ, who you sent at Christmas. Today, Jesus, as much as I know how I want to open up my life to you. Replace my guilt with your forgiveness. Replace my confusion with Your peace. Please, replace my uncertainty about the future and death with your gift of eternal life.

This next year, I want to pay attention to You, God. I want to discover and fulfill the purpose that you made me for. I want to cooperate with your plan for my life. I want to learn to trust you more. In your name I pray, Jesus. Amen.

The Scandalous Jesus (Part 1)

Introduction
There is always something new to talk about at the Lewis household. No, it is not the weather. It is definitely not politics. Traffic? No. What’s for dinner? Nope. It’s the mail. Every day, the mail arrives at our house between 3:00 and 3:30 pm. From my home office, I have a perfect view of the mail truck’s approach so that just as he is leaving the neighbor’s mail box I have just enough time to rush down the stairs, out the front door, hop and shout a few times because I’m not wearing shoes and some horticultural land mine has caught my foot and get to the mail box just as the mail man leaves.

Ah and then the riches of the daily mail. Always new. Such a delicious combination of the unexpected and the dreaded. You can tell so much about your life by what kind of mail you get. I mean, haven’t you ever gotten the neighbors’ mail and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so they’re that kind of person are they?” Little bit of black mail material. Yeah, that’s what they say about you, too.

For the past several years, I have followed the life of C. A. Lewis. I don’t know who C.A. Lewis is, but she has been living with us for the past 10 years and is now getting into her late 60s, based on the AARP junk mail we’ve been getting.

No, the mail always provides surprises, some good and bad.

Now, we don’t normally think of Jesus as tabloid material. We’ve grown comfortable with the cute pictures of baby Jesus, the handsome photo-ops with the cross looking all artistic, and serious, the androgynous Jesus praying with the halo around his head. I mean, how could a guy like that cause a stir at all? I mean, he was all peace and love and goodness, right? Amazing how stuff like that can get you killed.

If you want an exciting way to read the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, don’t read them as nice, little bed time stories; read them as a strident challenge to the status quo; an attack against the moral, religious and political establishment of his day. From the manger, to his teaching, to his death and his return from death, the gospels were meant to shake people up. Whether it was fundamentalist, the businessman, the self-confessed pagan or the agnostic, every recorded incident of Jesus’ life was put there for a reason: it was put there to challenge you; force you to reexamine your life, who you are and what you are doing with your life.

Jesus was a walking scandal. When you read the gospels in this light, it is extraordinary.

Paul put it this way:

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. –1 Corinthians 1:22-24

But wait a second, you say: this is now, this is America. Jesus may have been shocking to a bunch of ancient religious red necks, but we’re more sophisticated today. Now he’s just passé. Stick him in the middle of Berkeley or Sacramento or El Dorado Hills and we’d probably just ignore him, at best, or call the police because he’s disturbing the peace.

No: Look at those verses again: Jews and Greeks. For Paul’s world, that was everybody. Everybody seemed to have a problem with Jesus. He’s too simple-minded. No one could honestly believe his drug-store, Hallmark sentimentality. Or he’s too weak to be a serious help to real people.

In fact, the word translated “stumbling block” is actually the Greek word “skandalon”—where we get the word scandal. He trips you up. Whatever you thought about Jesus, when you start to get serious about him, you need to think again. Jesus always does that to us: you can’t ignore him. You have to deal with Jesus.

He’s not just a little hobby, like origami, that you just add to your life to give your life a little more flavor; a little more sophisticated. He demands to be your life.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. –1 John 5:12

Jesus isn’t an easy person to get along with. He wants you to change. He wants you to grow. He wants you to improve. Over the next three weeks: we’ll look at the scandal of the manger; the scandal of the cross and, today, the scandal of Jesus’ life. And his challenge isn’t just to residents of 1st century Palestine, but to 21st century America.

Today we’ll look at three of the scandals that took place during Jesus’ active career. And with each one, Jesus dares us: follow me. Are you prepared?

The Scandal of Messy Lives: Jesus Dares Us To Get Our Hands Dirty.
One of the amazing things about Jesus was his ability to see people. I mean, really see people. The insignificant people. The naïve. The lost causes. The has-beens. The sell-outs. The lushes. The con-men.

Sometimes they were overlooked because they were unimportant and poor. But it was Jesus who saw through the rich people at the temple and saw the destitute widow throw in her last two pennies. (Mark 12:41-44). Sometimes they were overlooked because they were young. But Jesus saw the children who wanted his blessing. (Matthew 19:13-14). Sometimes they were overlooked because they chose a messed up lifestyle and chose bad friends to go along with it. But Jesus saw Matthew, the hated, cheating collector of Roman taxes and told him, “Follow me!” went to his house and ate with his friends. (Matthew 9:9-12)

But even more than those people he saw, there were the lives he touched. When he saw someone in need, he wasn’t looking for excuses, he was looking to help. One of the most telling examples from Jesus’ ministry comes in chapter 5 of the book of Luke:

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. –Luke 5:12-13

Before we go any further, remember that these stories were meant to shock the reader. So when we look at this, we want to find out what was unusual; what was designed to make the original 1st century hearers of this story take a second look at Jesus.

Now miracle stories are common enough. Every religion has a whole collection of them. And generally, those miracle stories go along the line of “Wow, cool miracle. My god is bigger than your god. Na na na na na na!” This looks like it. A man is sick. Asks Jesus for help. Jesus agrees. Man is healed. Two verses.

But wait, did the man really asked to be healed? No, I want you to look back at those verses and circle ‘clean’. He asked to be cleaned and Jesus cleaned him. So what’s up here? Jesus, the industrial strength vacuum cleaner. Was he dirty? No, to understand the significance of what Jesus is doing here, you need to understand how this man was living. In Jesus’ day, there were rules which governed what happened to people with a wide variety of skin diseases, not just leprosy. And, according to the Old Testament,

The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.—Leviticus 13:45-46

With these kinds of diseases, the man had to live away from everybody. He had to live away from his family and his town. He had to show his condition by wearing rags and dreadlocks. And everywhere he went, he had to shout out, “Unclean! Unclean!” “Dirty! Dirty! I am dirty!”

What a way to live! What a desperate situation! So when he hears about Jesus in town, he makes a desperate dash to find him. And when he finds Jesus, he doesn’t even get close. It says “When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground…” He doesn’t approach, he just gets so Jesus can see him and hear him and he begs Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

And then we come to the single most important word in this story: Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. How many years had it been since someone had dared to touch him, to risk infection, to show love through physical contact? But Jesus closes the gap, bridges the divide and touches the man.

And rather than Jesus getting dirty, he exudes cleanness. Rather than the man infecting him with dirtiness, he infects the man with purity and health. He touched the man…He didn’t need to. He could have just waved politely from a distance. Tele-healing. Dial-a-miracle. In fact, a few chapters later Jesus heals a soldier’s daughter from miles away. (Luke 7) But he didn’t, because the love behind the touch of Jesus was a much a miracle as the healing itself.

The same is true for us. Jesus challenges us: get your hands dirty. But we don’t like messy. We like beautiful, clean, and sanitary. In one sense, El Dorado Hills is one big exercise is removing ourselves from what we don’t want to see, what we don’t want to hear, what we don’t want to smell, and what we don’t want to touch. But Jesus challenges us: get your hands dirty. But while El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park and Folsom are full of beautiful people and beautiful houses and nice cars, they are also full of hurting people. It doesn’t take a long look to find the broken marriages and messed up kids and dishonest finances. And yes, it’s even their fault. You might find someone pushing a shopping cart, smelling like sweat and old booze. Yes, its their fault. You might find a Democrat. Or worse yet, some self-righteous Republican. Yes, its their fault.

We are afraid of the mess. Jesus dares us: get your hands dirty. The risk is not that we will be corrupted by them. The real danger is not pollution…the real danger is that, as the hands and feet of Jesus, we are withholding cleansing and healing because we will not touch. So reach out, bridge the gap, touch peoples lives.


The Scandal Of Insignificance: Jesus Challenges Us Take Second Place.
In my family, we love to play Monopoly. I’ve even played in Monopoly tournaments, read the Monopoly book, could name the top 10 most landed on properties and their relative rates of investment return. But there is one card in Community Chest which always drove me nuts: “You Have Won Second Place in a Beauty Contest, Collect $10”

Makes my kids laugh every time. First, there’s my shapely physique. Second, it’s second place. Third, there’s the paltry sum of $10. But nonetheless, Monopoly has noticed me dozens of times as a 2nd place winner.

Something about second place rankles. We don’t like second place. No one remembers second place. I can’t remember who the other Oscar nominees were last year. I can’t even remember who went home a loser in the Super Bowl. During the Olympics, does anyone really look at the silver and bronze?

Strangely enough, Jesus ran into this issue, not among the Pharisees or the tax collectors, but among his own disciples:

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." –Mark 9:33-35

The disciples are quietly arguing who was the holiest, cleanest, or smartest. You can just hear them on the road, “I fasted for three days last week” “That’s nothing, I fasted for five days last week.” “Well, I fasted for eight days last week, healed 13 sick children and raised 2 from the dead.” “Shut-up, will you Peter? Show off. Geez.”

So Jesus sits down and tells them: If you want to be first, take last place.

So let’s learn from Jesus:

1. If you want to be great, start making everyone else around you great.

Jesus doesn’t throw cold water on his disciples’ desire to be great. That’s interesting; because sometimes we go around with this idea that Christian’s have this wimpy drive to mediocrity. Instead Jesus turns the how-to upside-down. If you want to be great, if you want to be first, start with the heavy lifting of carrying the burdens, meeting the needs, filling the gaps for those around you. And, strange as it may seem, the result of such service is greatness.

2. Greatness is granted, not grabbed.

The reason that servanthood is the path to greatness is because true greatness is something that is granted; something give to you after you have served, not grabbed because of your superior strength, intellect or position. When you struggle to be first place, to be on top of the heap, to climb to the top of the ladder, you find that first place is occupied by God and God alone; you can’t take greatness, because God does not share with thieves of his glory. Instead, when you give your own greatness away, He shares his with you.

Look at Jesus’s example for us:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant… therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name –Philippians 2:6-7,9

3. Service is not a sign of weakness, but of strength

Let me ask you a question? Who is stronger: the one who gives the orders or the one who carries out the orders? Does it take more strength to strike out in anger, or to hold your hand? To bear the burden or be the burden? To wash the feet or to dirty the feet? Jesus knew the secret: Servants are the winners, because they are the stronger. Look at what Jesus said when he was being arrested:

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? –Matthew 26:53

4. Servants are appreciated.

You know, the best servants are those who know the mind of the master. They have served long and faithfully, have observed their master’s habits for so long that his moves and decisions are not surprises. And the successes of the master, become the successes of the servant as well.

In fact, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, he told his disciples:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.–John 15:15

In the parable of the Talent’s the master said:

'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' –Matthew 25:21

Take a look at this scene from the Incredibles, where Dash, super-hero son of Mr. Incredible tries to fit in at school. Dash is the stronger, but he takes second place.



Take on the challenge of second place. We don’t take the supporting role because of weakness. No, with Jesus we overcome the world. But rather, in our strength, make others succeed. If you do, you join a long line of heroes of the faith who weren’t the leaders. Instead they took second place. Joseph, right hand man to the Pharaoh of Egypt; Nehemiah, trusted man of King Artaxerxes; Daniel, lead adviser to the king of Babylon; Mordecai, wise man for Xerxes.

The Scandal of Less: Jesus Challenges Us to Bless

This picture is Lake Disappointment, in the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. Explorer Frank Hann noticed that, in this desert, several of creeks flowed inland and he expected to find a large, refreshing fresh-water lake. But instead he found a salt-water lake. What a disappointment! Fresh water coming in; a desert desperately in need of water; but unusable water.

Why is it that some of the most richly blessed people in our world; who have it all; have such messed up lives? Isn’t it strange? So much talent; so much money; such great families; so many opportunities, and you wonder, “What happened to them?” The same is true in the kingdom of God.

One time a rich, religious young man came and asked Jesus a question about getting eternal life. And Jesus asked him if he’d been a good boy: no lying, cheating, stealing, murdering and honoring his parents. He said, “Yes”. And Jesus’ answer caused quite a stir.

Right up to that point, Jesus’ disciples has probably been thinking: “Yes! 10-out-of-10. Is he married? I’ve got a sister or a daughter. Is he ready to join our synagogue?” But Jesus didn’t let him off so easily, keep reading:

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.—Matthew 19:16, 21-22

The disciples are really going crazy, “Wait! Wait! Jesus, at least he tithes!” But Jesus lets him walk.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." –Matthew 19:23-25

So what’s going on? You see, Jesus saw that this young man was just like Lake Disappointment. He had so many blessings pouring into his life. Good moral upbringing, strong body, good family relationships, an inquisitive mind and a hefty bank account. But nothing was going out: when Jesus put him to the test, he couldn’t bless. In the face of the son of God, he was so wrapped up with his blessings that he couldn’t grab ahold of the greater blessing. Like Lake Disappointment, he was dead inside.

Jesus goes on to say that this problem isn’t an isolated incident. His disciples were greatly astonished because to them, the blessings of these rich people were the result of their good lives. But for Jesus, they weren’t an end; a result. They were a tool, a means to do what God wants. To follow Jesus, the blessings flow through our hands.

Here we have a world, a nation, a community, a neighborhood in desperate need of the blessings of God. And God hasn’t abandoned these people. In fact, he has designated individuals to distribute these blessings; the people of God. But some days we’d rather die than give them away.

But there are days when we catch a glimpse of what God can do. It can be exhilarating.

The first thing you can do is:

• Count your blessings (time, friendship, abundance). Jesus told the man to sell his possessions. Measure your blessings. Count how much you have. I hope that this Thanksgiving, you stopped to thank God for all of your blessings. $ aren’t even what I’m talking about. In fact, I think we shortchange the blessings of God because we have bought into the consumer-mentality lie that loving someone means buying something. Do you really prefer the Dollar Tree you’re your kids bought you or the note that they wrote you last week?

No, some of you have strong marriages. Some of you have such tremendous families. Some of you have tremendous talents. Some of you have great inner strength. Some of you have spare time. Some of do you have the blessing of $. Stop and count your blessings. Because God is going to put you in situations where your blessings are exactly what is needed. And some days its not easy; some days it is in the knock-down-drag-out situations of life, where the grace God has shown you makes all the difference because you infuse that grace into those around you.

Then, you need to:

• Bless from gratitude, not guilt.

Blessing is not grudging. Yeah, I guess I’ll give. Blessing other people is an overflow of how much God has blessed you. Then.

• Find a blessee. Jesus told the man to give to the poor, who desperately needed what he had.

Find someone to bless. Notice I said: Find, not Wait until one falls on your head. You will know it’s the right person because they will be in desperate need of exactly the blessing you listed in step 1. Then give them what they need. Sometimes we like to take the short cut with $ or clichés. Don’t be like the wise men in the song “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

Do You Hear What I Hear
A child, a child
Shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold

Get the kid a blanket!

Take a hit on the blessings account and bless someone else. There will be no more room for God’s blessing unless you bless others.

Conclusion
When Jesus healed the man with leprosy, he told him, “Show yourself to the priest…” In those days, the priest would examine the man and sprinkle him with the blood of a small bird. Then, if after seven days, the disease hadn’t returned, he would bring animals to sacrifice and he was restored. Restored to his family; restored to his community; restored to worship God at the tabernacle. His wasted life, walking around crying Unclean! Unclean! was gone and now he had a second chance.

Perhaps the greatest scandal of Jesus’ life is the scandal of the second chance. You don’t have to be a slave of your past; the way you used to live; the things you used to do. But you will be until you give up trying to be the ruler of your life. That’s his job. It’s not a second chance you deserve. It’s not a second chance you pay back. But it is a second chance that he paid for, with his blood, on the cross so you could have your life back; so you could have your hope back; so you could have a future.

Maybe you’re looking at God with new eyes this morning. Maybe what you thought was so stupid or weak about Jesus before isn’t such a stumbling block. Maybe you’ve suddenly realized that you need that power and wisdom in your life. You can come talk to me or Mike S and we’d love to talk with you about it.

Or maybe you’ve known about God for a while, but the radical nature of His life; the scandal of his life has kind of worn off and you’ve settled for warm-fuzzies; you’ve settled for the convenient instead of the convicting.. Are you ready to get your hands dirty? Are you ready to make other people great? Are you ready to bless with your blessings?

Colossians 4:7-18: Friendships

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Introduction
The concluding section of the book of Colossians consists of greetings sent by Paul and his co-workers to those in the church. This was a common part of Paul’s letters, and it is easy to miss their importance, since it seems to consist of a list of names with a few generic and sometimes cryptic remarks.

But really it gives us a fascinating look into the ministry of Paul, how it was structured and how his relationships with other people were both the joy and the pain in his ministry.

Anyone who has been involved in church for a long time knows what a quirky bunch of people we are. Each person sitting next to us on Sunday morning has a story all their own. Each person is at a different place in their spiritual journey. Each has a different personality and set of circumstances. And it is exactly that mixture that makes church incredibly rewarding and, at times, incredibly frustrating.

The people mentioned here at the end of chapter 4 are are a cross-section of what it is like to work in the church over a long period of time. There are some people who look up to you. There are some people who are always there. There are some people you can depend on. There are some people who will disappoint you. There are others who will reconcile with you over time.

Tychicus - Ambassador

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus… - Colossians 4:7-9a

Tychicus was close enough to Paul that Paul could trust him to act as his ambassador, so to speak. Paul sent him both to Colossae and to Ephesus, probably on the same trip, carrying the letters to those cities. Later, he may have gone to Crete to give Titus a break.

Tychicus is the person you send to a meeting in your place; the person who, when you know they are going to the meeting, you know you don’t need to go yourself. He was also known by three key attributes: faithful (he stick with Paul), humble (he did whatever it took) and encouraging (he spoke positively). You don’t worry about what they say when you aren’t in the room; you know they can handle sensitive issues with tact.

Acts 20, Ephesians 6:21, 2 Timothy 4:12, Titus 3:12

Onesimus – Changed Man

He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here. – Colossians 4:9

We have already talked previously about Onesimus, the runaway slave who came to Christ after coming into contact with Paul in Rome. Here is the electric charge of ministry, watching God change someone who was “faithless” before into someone who is “faithful”, someone who was “useless” who has become useful; someone who was a slave who has become a brother.

Onesimus is the person who finally gets their act together; who seemed to fail again and again, but your patience was one of the avenues that God used to keep them same. Sara Groves, in her song, “When It was Over” talks about a situation like this:

When it was over and they could talk about it
They were sitting on the couch
She said what on earth made you stay here
When you finally figured out what I was all about
He said I always knew you'd do the right thing
Even though it might take some time
She said, Yeah, I felt that and that's probably what saved my life. [1]

This is what ministry is about, but it is so difficult because the outcome is so uncertain and it is so demanding.

Colossians 4:9, Philemon 1:8, 10;

Aristarchus – Sticks With You.

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings… - Colossians 4:10

Aristarchus met Paul in Greece and was travelling with him up through his home country of Macedonia. In Ephesus, where the people were whipped into a patriotic fervor over Paul’s preaching and the ministry there, they dragged Paul and Aristarchus into the theater in a near riot. Aristarchus went to jail with Paul, went to Jerusalem with Paul and eventually ended up in jail in Rome with him.

This is the friend who sticks with you even when other people turn against you. This is the one who takes the punches with you.

Acts 19:29, Acts 20, Acts 27:2, Philemon 1:24

Mark - Reconciliation

…as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) - Colossians 4:10b, 11

Mark’s mother, Mary was a member of the church in Jerusalem. The church met to pray at her house at least once in the New Testament (Acts 12:12) and early on in Paul’s ministry, when Barnabas was encouraging him in his young faith, they took Mark with them. It was during this trip that something happened that caused them not only to split up.

They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, -- Acts 15:39

And when they had split up, Paul apparently spread the word to other churches about him, because he had to later tell the churches to receive him. We don’t know what it was, but it was serious. Yet we see that later, Paul and Mark have come back together and are together in Rome. It may have been that Mark was already there with Peter (see 1 Peter 5:13). Not only are they together, but Paul recommends him to the Colossians. And later in his life, as Paul sees the end of his life approaching, he writes to Timothy in loneliness and says:

Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. – 2 Timothy 4:11

People in church can hurt us. People can disappoint us. But leaving the door open for forgiveness, taking the opportunity to restore can lead not just to civil politeness, but even strengthened affection.

Justus – Culture Comfort

Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. – Colossians 4:11

We don’t know about more about Justus. There are a couple of other Justus’ mentioned in the New Testament and a couple of other Jesus’, but none are likely candidates. We do know that he was a Jew, a Christian worker and a comfort to Paul.

When we have visited with missionaries and workers in other countries, the work is tough and the mental strain is even tougher. Families take a terrible hit. Ever action of yours is scrutinized and every choice you make second-guessed because it is all an act of incarnational translation. Sometimes having someone who you can talk to who just “gets” you is a great comfort.

This is the church, as well. When you struggle so long in the world and it is taking its toll, there is a great comfort in finding other brothers and sisters who “get” you, who understand the struggle, who refresh and comfort. Have you ever taken advantage of that? Are you a comfort or a thorn?

Epaphras – Local Boy Done Good

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. – Colossians 4:12-13.

Epaphras was the local boy who pioneered the faith in Colossae, and maybe even in the neighboring cities of Laodicaea and Hierapolis. Now those churches were sending him out again, to work with Paul. They knew his character. They knew the power of God that had flowed through this mighty man of prayer. Now they launch them out again with full confidence.

In this age of headhunters and professional services, we can “hunt” for new staff. But sometimes the best person for the job is the one you’ve known all along.
Colossians 1:7, Philemon 1:23

Luke – Minister of Presence

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. – Colossians 4:14

We actually don’t know a lot about Luke. He is mentioned only three times in the New Testament, although church tradition assigns to him the authorship of The Gospel of Luke and Acts. But one thing we do know: he was close to Paul (called ‘dear’), was a doctor and felt close enough to Paul that those sections of Acts where Luke is present, he writes “we”. In the most difficult circumstances of Paul’s life, in prison, at the end of his life, Paul has Luke. Luke may have even been the actual hand that wrote down the words of Paul.
There are the people in church who are always there, not for the church events, but for the people of the church. They are not the errand runners; they are the people builders. They are the ones who keep you going in the toughest days and the ones that make you look good.

Demas – Disappointment

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. – Colossians 4:14

Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. – 2 Timothy 4:9-10a

Paul depended on Demas, and Demas left him behind. Paul is forced to recall Timothy earlier than planned. We know people like that. Promising followers of Jesus who turn off the way at some point, throw in the towel, growing perhaps cynical or disillusioned or simply tempted by an easier life.
Philemon 1:24

Archippus – Commissioned By God

Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord." – Colossians 4:17

Archippus not only heard the word of God from Epaphras and responded, he also opened up his home as a church. It is not clear whether he was (or had been) a soldier, or whether Paul simply referred to him as a fellow “commissioned officer” in God’s service, but it was clear that Paul knew of his story and how God had given him a special charge.

Here Paul is acting as the encourager, the reminder of God’s work in the past. In the same way he did with Timothy, reminding him of God’s gifting (1 Timothy 1), he tells Archippus: Do what you were made to do.
Sometimes people doubt whether they have heard God correctly. Time acts as a warp field that twists our memory and circumstances erode our certainty as to God’s calling and action in our life. We need people who know the whole story. Jason Danberg needs people who know the story; John Hossack needs people who know his story; Tim Lewis needs people who know the story; because when I become confused I want; I need; someone to remind me of what I have shared together.

Conclusion

After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea

[1] Sara Groves, “When It Was Over” on Add To The Beauty, 10/04/2005
Ministry is not ministry unless it involves other people. Those people are both the blessing and bane sometimes. But it is in this very arena that God has called us to show himself to the world and it is in this arena that we can experiment with the grace given us, knowing that there are Paul's in every church to encourage, guide and even rebuke us.Demas is a quick sketch in Paul’s disappointment. He ministered with Paul in Rome and possibly through one of the later missionary journeys. Paul puts him in the same sentence as “dear” doctor Luke. But as Paul’s life was coming to a close, Demas apparently throws in the towel and abandons the call of God:

Colossians 4:2-6: Ready

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Introduction
As with Paul’s other letters, the last portion of the letter focuses on personal news (vs. 2-6), recommendation of those who were carrying the letters (vs. 7-8) and greetings to members of the church from those who are with Paul (vs. 10-18). In many ways, this section is a match with the beginning of chapter 1.

In chapter 1, we see Paul’s greeting. In chapter 4:18, we see Paul’s handwritten greeting.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God… - Colossians 1:1a

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. – Colossians 4:18

In chapter 1, we see the greeting from Paul’s companions. In chapter 4, we see an extended greeting from Paul’s other companions. For example:

and Timothy our brother, - Colossians 1:1b

My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. – Colossians 4:10a

Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. – Colossians 4:11

. – Colossians 4:12

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. – Colossians 4:14

This kind book-ending, where you have topic 1 and then topic 2 and then topic 3 and then back to topic 2 and then go back to topic 1 is called chiasm. In this chiastic structure, the most important topic is placed in the middle. In Colossians, this falls on Chapter 3:1 where it talks about setting your mind on things above, right between his practical advice on religious life and his practical advice on relationships. You can see this similar sort of structure in many Psalms. This is why we sometimes get confused when reading them and why outlining them sometimes makes no sense, because they aren’t written Thesis Statement, Supporting Statement A, Supporting Statement B, then C, then Conclusion. They are written Thought A, Thought B, Really Important Point C, Back to Thought B, and then wind down with Thought A and maybe a little tag at the end. And it isn’t always 100%. Drives OCD Bible scholars nuts.

Now as we come to verses 2-6, we see Paul encourage us:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Now, sneak back to chapter 1 again:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you… - Colossians 1:9

You see, Paul is working his way out from his central theme, back to the theme of prayer that he started the book with. Paul and his fellow workers (“we”) were praying continuously for the Colossians and now he asks them to pray.

If there is one word that characterizes these verses, it is readiness. Be ready. God is on the move. Wouldn’t it be a shame if we missed the movement of God; if it just passed us by without our notice? Or if we saw the movement of God and decide not to join him? One of the few times where Jesus was moved to years is recorded in the book of Luke:

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he [Jesus] wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes…because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." – Luke 19:41,42,44b

God is not passive. He is not some senile old man in the sky who once in a while gets his act together. And while his character is predictable, his methods are not. He continually is able to surprise us with his creativity and inventiveness. With a God on the move, we who are his servants can only stand on tiptoes, looking for what he will do next.

This past weekend we picked up a man who lived in a tent on a 2 acre parcel in the lovely town of Snake Pit California. He struggled to stay awake each night, because as soon as he would sleep, someone has been stealing stuff from his tent: Pillsbury biscuits, soup, his driver’s license. He couldn’t sleep because of fear of theft. For us, what would life be life if we wouldn’t sleep, not because of fear, but because we were afraid we would miss something that God was doing?

Paul gives us three areas:

1. Be Ready To Pray
2. Be Ready To Speak
3. Be Ready To Answer

Be Ready To Pray

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. – Colossians 4:2

If God is moving, then we must be ready to act when He is on the move. That readiness is cultivated by the habit of prayer. Notice how Paul couples “prayer” with “watchful”-ness and “thankful”-ness. To be watchful is to look forward with expectation. Our hope is in heaven, so what is heaven up to? Prayer is the key to getting on God’s channel; tuning into God’s station; syncing with his agenda. When you read an Agatha Christie novel, or watch one of her great detectives like Hercules Poirot or Miss Marple, you know that they have a knack for noticing the details and understanding which are significant and which are not. In one story, Poirot discusses his methods. In order to get the “little gray cells” working he must have just the right setting: lighting, tea, sitting position; lack of interruptions. For the follower of Jesus, prayer is the method. With it God helps us notice details and discern what is significant and what is just static.

We also pray thankfully. Thankfulness is the 20-20 hindsight version of watchfulness; watching carefully behind us to see how God has marvelously worked. Someone has once said that a mystery novel starts at the wrong place; that all of the interesting bits--all the passion and stress and action--have already happened in the past; that the detective is piecing together the amazing drama of the past. That is praying with thankfulness. Detailing God’s work yesterday gives us perspective for today.

Sometimes God is moving, but we don’t see it.

The journals of Mother Theresa reveal a woman who was on fire from a young age, whose very call to ministry was from Christ. But then, except for a brief period in 1959, she confessed repeatedly of being lonely and struggled with the sense of God’s absence until she died.

When Jesus was brought to the temple as a baby, they met Simeon, an old man, who had received a word from God: that he would see the hope of Israel before he died. He heard just this one word from God and then had a lifetime of waiting, in a nation which had not heard from God in over 400 years.

That is why Peter wrote:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. – 2 Peter 3:9

Many of Jesus’ parables are of the absent master who comes back and finds servants or his bride in various states of readiness. Some live like he is going to be around soon. Some have lived like he is in permanent holiday. That is why Paul instructs us to “devote yourselves to prayer” That word “devote” is actually an adverb: pray devotedly or, stickily. The same word is used in Mark 3:9, where it says:

And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; - Mark 3:9 (NAS)

That phrase “stand ready” is the same word. It has the idea of faithfulness or keeping it close by.

First, we are ready, when we pray, because it allows us to see God at work. Second, because God is always at work, we need to be ready to proclaim when he gives us the opportunity.

Be Ready To Speak
The second place where Paul wants to be ready is in speaking.

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. – Colossians 4:3-4

When Helen and I go walking in the morning, there are two kinds of dogs: there are those that just lazily watch you as you go by and then there are those who are testing the length of their leash. When Paul is asking to pray that the door may be open for the message, he means that literally. How frustrating it must have been for Paul to be at the end of a chain. We know from the 1st chapter of Philippians that Paul wished he could be out doing the work of proclaiming.

So Paul is staring at his prison door, waiting for a crack, so that the message can go out. He wants to be ready. The word for “proclaim” here is just the normal word for speaking to someone. But the context here is someone who initiates; who puts forth the word first.

The second aspect of Paul’s request for prayer is that he would speak clearly. Wouldn’t it be a shame for you get to get your golden opportunity to insert a word and to bungle it because no one could understand what you said? Holding up signs saying John 3:16 doesn’t mean much to a generation that has never cracked open a Bible. Holding up a cross means little if people think it resembles a cute piece of jewelry. Sometimes we try to just toss out the gospel in a form that we can understand and hope against hope that someone else will figure it out. But the responsibility for communication lies with the communicator, not the listener. This was a great lesson from God himself, when, in order to communicate himself, sent Jesus as a man.

Be Ready To Answer
The third place where Paul wants to be ready is in answering. While speaking is active, answering is reactive.

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. – Colossians 4:5-6

Life happens. In the grocery store, in the hospital, on an airplane, on the soccer field, in an office, God presents countless opportunities. And God encourages you: make the most of every opportunity. Not every chance is special, but when the special chance does come we have to be ready.

And your opportunities are squandered if you can’t talk in a winning, life-changing way. The way you talk earns you the right to be heard. When we were in Turkey, the workers there told us, “You can say anything to someone with a smile on your face.” And this phrase “full of grace” is referring to a winning, generous way of speaking, not stingy in praise or love.

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ… - Ephesians 4:15a

But it is not enough to win favor. Whether in religion or in politics, there are plenty of people who will tell you what you want to hear.

…but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires – 2 Timothy 4:3b

And there are plenty to people who speak in clichés. But the difference between friends and friendly can drive you to your knees. In order to be ready, the few moments, the few words need to count. That’s why the Bible says our conversation needs to be “seasoned with salt” It needs to make a difference in the moments we have.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. – Matthew 5:13

It is not enough for people to hear the truth, they must hear that we care. Don’t tell them Jesus loves them until we’re ready to love them too.

Conclusion
How to answer everyone.

``I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,'' said Darcy, ``of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.''

``My fingers,'' said Elizabeth, ``do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault -- because I would not take the trouble of practising.

I am not very good at being ready. I tend to drift along with whatever is happening, trying to keep my head above water. Life seems moment-by-moment and my mind is focused on the momentary and not the eternal. But even in those moments, Paul enourages us to pray, to speak and to answer.