Faith Expressed…Serve (Revelation 2:19)

I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. – Revelation 2:19

Introduction
These past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about church: How, at Cornerstone, our faith is expressed when we love, serve and give.

Do churches need purpose statements? Is it even worth the effort? Now I know that most of you have so much spare time that you sit around on your lounge chairs thinking about church. It dominates your thoughts, right? Or maybe church dominates all of two hours of your week. When you stop by the gas station tomorrow and the gas station attendant asks you, “So, what did you do this weekend?” Do you say, “Oh nothing.” or do you say, “I had a fantastic time at church!”

Hey, you know, that’s ok. What’s important about the church is not the church: it is the God of the church. We don’t come here on Sunday mornings to celebrate us! We come here to celebrate God together; to worship together; to marvel together at His goodness and how He changes our lives. It is not about us and if it ever becomes about us we will spoil it.

In the first week, Pastor Henry talked about our faith. It is our faith—our trust—in God which gives us that bedrock of security that allows us to take risks; to experiment; to live the life of freedom that comes, not from throwing off all restraint, but from finding the right master. You’ve gotta serve somebody. Put your faith in the wrong place, and you will be disappointed. Put your faith, in the wrong place and your enthusiasm can carry you for a little while, just like the sugar pill can make you think you are all better. Put your faith in God and he gives you his guarantee that, in the end, you will be with him forever. Better than FDIC insured, baby.

That’s a powerful motivator.

Then, last week, Pastor Henry talked to us about how our faith motivates us to love. Colossians 1:4-5:

…because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel. – Colossians 1:4-5

We got the message! The good news. God will never love you more than he loves you today. God will never love you less than he loves you today. That certainty-that bedrock certainty-is what we need to love. Because out of the overflow of God’s love we can be lavishly generous with our love. That love expresses itself in so many ways: patience, kind, helpfulness, selflessness and helpfulness.

I went to the notary the other day for a travel authorization so that they would let Helen, my wife, out of the country by herself with my daughter. They checked my driver’s license and I had to sign in their presence and then put my thumbprint in their book. That thumbprint is not me, it is just the recording of the ridges on my finger. But it sure shows I was probably there. Likewise your love is the imprint of your faith on your day to day life. It isn’t your faith, but it sure shows that the heart of faith is really there.

When Adam Smith wrote the book The Wealth of Nations, he laid down the foundations of what we know as capitalism. Rather than depending on the goodness of people, capitalism laid down a system to harness greed. Essentially, if you put a bunch of greedy people in a room, they generally beat each other up enough to give a fair market economy. Except for monopolies and bailouts and small stuff like that.

Well that sort of greed can be found in the spiritual world. Spiritual greed takes the sun moon and stars out of their normal trajectories and places them in orbit around the capital I. But Jesus was one step ahead of us in our self-centered spiritual astronomy, when he said:

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you (dot. dot. dot) - Mark 10:43

Oooh! Oooh! I want somma’ that! Well, get in line because I saw this verse first!

We have corrupted faith. We read in the newspaper or People magazine about how someone’s faith got them through the tough times. No, God got them through the tough times. Faith is not about us, it is about God.

We have corrupted love. “Love your neighbor as yourself” with the accent on the “self” Love is patient: look how much I have to put up with you! Love is kind: look how I bit my tongue when you were talking. Love is not about us, it is about the beloved.

We would like to be spiritual superstars. We would like miracles to shooting from our fingertips, people in
awe of the words which drip from our lips, the spotlight of heaven tracking our every move, a shower instead of a bathtub because we always walk on water. Cele-bri-ty!

My step-mother Barbara is a hard-working volunteer down in San Benito County, where she works on everything from elder care, to raising money for the hospital and fitness and nutrition for minority children . A few years ago, she was nominated for “Volunteer of the Year” But the catch was, she had to write out an essay describing why she should win. Self-promotion is everywhere, even for volunteers.

But Jesus said:

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. – Mark 10:43b

If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all. – Mark 9:35b

Wait, Jesus, don’t you know that unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes? Wait, Jesus, I’ve got the killer testimony. Wait, Jesus, I’ve got the guitar riffs of Eddie Van Halen. Wait, Jesus, I can teach like Billie Graham. You don’t really want me to go to the back of the line, do you?

There is greatness in God’s kingdom. There is power in God’s kingdom. There is wisdom in God’s kingdom. But it comes to the servants. Higher than “king” or CEO or Ph.D, the people of God delight to be called servant (deacon) and messenger (apostle) That’s what Jesus called himself, and Pau and Peter and James and Timothy. How about you?

The first thing servants do is

Adopt God’s Agenda
There will be no progress for you spiritually if you insist on your agenda for life. In the book of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus has just told his group of followers-his disciples-that whatever they gave up for God would be repaid when Jesus came into his kingdom. We pick up the story a few verses later in verse 35:

 

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." - Mark 10:35-37

Jesus, we’ve got it all figured out. When you come into your kingdom, there are going to be some choice cabinet appointments available and we figured, since we’ve been with you pretty much since the beginning, you kinda’ owe us.

They had a plan, but it wasn’t God’s plan. Servants don’t set the agenda; they follow their master’s agenda-God’s agenda.

What do I desire to do most? What do you desire most in life? To get married? To be financially independent; to make a million? To retire? To make my mark on the world? You had better have a greater purpose in your life than any of those or you're going to miss the boat. They're fine, they're good -- but they're not the purpose of life.

Service is saying: I want to do what God wants more than anything else. You've got to say, "I want God's plan for my life." God has a plan for you, but it's not automatic. God made you for a purpose but you could miss that purpose. These are the best days of your life…if you will let go of your dreams and hopes and desires and grab on to all that God made you for. Are you ready to say: "God, I really want You first in my life and I want to be what You made me to be?"

We would like for God to be the cosmic vending machine: put in a couple of good Sunday’s and you get a pay raise. Put in a year of good Sunday’s, tithe and help in the nursery, you get a new car. Throw in working at the rescue mission, adopt two foster children, dig out the church sewer line and you get a happy in-laws.

That’s what James and John were trying. But they didn’t get it. We don’t set the agenda.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:10

So, how do I know God’s agenda?

1. Do What You Know. There are hundreds of choices in front of you this week. Other people have their agenda for you. Your selfish self has its agenda for you. God’s agenda often consists of taking what God has already taught you and actually using it.
2. Do What God Is Doing. If you look around and see God is active that is your invitation to join him. You know God is active when peoples’ lives are being changed (John 15:8), when there is a unity of purpose (John 17:23) and when people are caring for each other (John 13:35).

Sometimes you and I have our agenda and when God or another person is slow to respond, we decide that we’ll just go ahead. Or we start to ratchet up the pressure, twist their arm, manipulate the outcome. People start looking like cars going 45 miles-an-hour on the highway. We want to switch lanes and pass them and get to our destination, but they are the ones who just saw the glorious sunset God prepared. It is not our plan; it is not our agenda; it is not our timetable; it is God’s. Servants adopt God’s agenda.

Next, servants have to:

Adopt A Learner’s Attitude
Jesus listened to the request of James and John. Now look at what happens next:

"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared." - Mark 10:38-40

You don’t know what you are asking. James and John thought they knew what they were getting into. Jesus was going to establish his kingdom and they wanted to share in the glory. But they didn’t know that the ‘cup’ and the ‘baptism’ that Jesus referred to was the shame and agony of the cross.

As servants, we need to be humble about what we know. Humility is the posture of learning. Pride is the posture of ignorance. There is so much that God can teach us; there is so much that our brothers and sisters can teach us if we are willing to learn; if we are willing to set aside our ideas long enough to be enriched by theirs. Not one of us has the full wisdom of God. Not me. Not you. If that were the case, you’d be sitting here in the church of the Holy Timothy. God forbid! No, God has parceled it out among all the saints.

God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 3:10

Some people would like to tell God how things ought to be. We are surprised when God doesn’t seem to agree with us on key points. We keep waiting for Him to come around to our point of view. We would like a set of rules because rules mean loopholes (just ask your kids). We would like to pick and choose the rules so that our faults are virtues and our pet peeves are sins. We would like it to be God said it, I believe it, that settles it, but it really is “God said it, that settles it. I’d better believe it.”

So how do I adopt a learner’s attitude?

1. Shut Up and Listen To God. He has something to teach you. Can you give him 15 minutes of your undivided attention tomorrow? Open up the Bible, pray to him, think about what he was teaching you through yesterday.
2. Shut Up and Listen To God’s Saints. We…no I am so quick to talk and give my opinion. You are talking and I’m already composing my reply. But every moment my mouth is open is a chance for me to insert my foot. Every moment my mouth is open, I am not paying attention to the voice of God speaking through you.
3. Hang Around Some Saints. I have found that some of the most valuable lessons I have learned from God has not been during the Bible study discussion, but over the dinner table or at the basketball game. It takes time. Watching and sharing and learning how God and their life mix teaches me. There are tears. There is laughter. There is encouragement.

You need to adopt God’s agenda. You need to adopt a learner’s attitude. And then you need to:

Adopt A Build-Up Strategy
Let’s follow the story a little further.

When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. – Mark 10:35-43a

You bet the ten other disciples were a little ticked off. Jesus just finished with one of his most challenging sermons; they are trying to figure it out; James and John try to sneak in a little face time with Jesus, and grab the top two spots in the kingdom! How about you? Ever get upset at people who are always trying to find an angle? Kissing up to the boss, taking extra credit when it’s not theirs, sneaking into your lane at the last moment, cutting in line; shallow apologies for their rude behavior?

Jesus calls a timeout—tells them to huddle up—right there on the road to Jerusalem, and tells them, in effect, “Do you really like the way that the Romans; these foreign pagan invaders run the country and abuse their power? Then why are you trying to imitate them? Are Herod and Caesar and his cronies really the model for leadership?” Is it your goal, when you grow up, to be just like the boss you complain about?

Jesus knew that we would be tempted to take their standards, so he says: “Not so with you!”

The world’s strategy is that is a top-down, push-down strategy. It is a pyramid scheme. Look at what Jesus says:

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

You have the low-level officials and they report to somebody. And they report to someone else and so on, up to the top. You have to admit, the view from the top of the pyramid looks pretty good.[1] But to get there, you climb over other people and push them down. Like a game of King of the Mountain, you find that maintaining your spot at the top is precarious because someone can trip you up and it’s a long way down. When you finally do reach the top, you find that God is already established there and he doesn’t share glory with anyone.

Jesus says, “Not so with you!” The kingdom of God, the church is different. Our strategy, the strategy of the servant, is the bottom-up, build-up strategy. Rather than fighting our way to the top, we lift up someone else to the top. We make them look good, we support what they are doing, we bind up their wounds; we put ourselves at their service. And they do the same for us. By serving each other, we all succeed. We all become “great”, not by serving ourselves, but by serving each other to greatness.

Now some of you are saying: This sounds a lot like “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” No! The way of the gospel; the way of the servant is: “I’ll scratch your back. Period.” We are all servants of the same Master. We, the people of God, cannot afford to emulate the model of leadership and authority derived from the latest business self-help fad. A recent article in Christianity Today called it “The Leadership Cult”[2]
In the book of John, Jesus took the bowl and the towel and washed his disciples’ feet like a slave would.

Then he told them:

"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. – John 13:13-14

We have different jobs; God has gifted us differently; but servants don’t have dignity. We can’t use our position or job description or title as an excuse. Jesus had and has every title and honor God could bestow, but he became a servant; to lift us up. We do the same.

First, servants adopt God’s agenda. Second, servants adopt a learner’s attitude. Third, servants follow a build-up strategy and, finally, servants…

Adopt Second Place To Be First

Not so with you! Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. - Mark 10:43-45

Henry Pearce of Australia was competing in the single scull rowing event at the 1928 Olympics. He was leading when a duck and her string of ducklings came into view up ahead. They were on a collision course and Pearce reckoned that his scull would cut the string in two and sink a few ducklings in the process, so he pulled in his oars. When the ducks passed, Pearce again bent his back to the task. There’s a happy ending to the story. Pearce won.

Usually, acts of sportsmanship result in defeat. Remember Leo Durocher’s pronouncement, “Nice guys finish last”?

It happened a couple of years ago in the marathon tandem kayak racing event at the world championships in Copenhagen. Danish paddlers were leading when their rudder was damaged in a portage. British paddlers, who were in second place, stopped to help the Danes fix it. The Danes went on to defeat the British by one second in an event that lasted nearly three hours.

But there’s a happy ending to this story too. According to The Wall Street Journal, the British kayakers won what many people regard as the highest honor in sports. They became the winner of the Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Trophy. The trophy is named for the founder of the modern Olympic Games, and it has been awarded annually for the past 28 years to people in sports who have demonstrated nobility of spirit.

It is big news in Europe, but it has not been given much recognition in the United States.

In the past, the trophy has gone to a Hungarian tennis player who pleaded with officials to give his opponent more time to recover from a cramp, and to a high school basketball coach who forfeited the Georgia (US) state championship after he found out that one of his players was scholastically ineligible. The first trophy went to an Italian bobsledder named Eugenio Monti for a gesture that exhibited a touch of class. In the two-man bobsled event at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, Monti was the leader after his final run. The only one given a chance to beat him was Tony Nash of Great Britain. As Nash and his teammate got ready for their final run, they discovered that a critical bolt on their sled had snapped at the last moment. Monti was informed of the problem and immediately took the corresponding bolt from his own sled and sent it up to Nash. Nash fixed his sled, came hurtling down the course to set a record and won the gold medal. [3]

Servants don’t need first place. They need to give away first place. Even Jesus did it. He came to serve.

Philippians 2:6 (NLT) says: “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave…”

Conclusion
Leadership seminars are all the rage these days. Even Disney has gotten into the act with the Disney Institute — Their web site says it "Highlighting the vision and ideals of Walt Disney, Disney Institute is a recognized leader in experiential training, leadership development. …" I’m sorry, but I’m not going to Mickey, I’m going to Jesus

Maybe you’ve never gone to Jesus. You’ve tried life yourself and you failed. Jesus said he came to serve and pay the ransom for you, to buy you back and give you a life of significance; a life of service.

Maybe you are tired and the thought of service seems overwhelming, because you barely make it through as it is. God can provide the resources. Paul said, “That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” (Colossians 1:29, NLT)

I don't know how to say it any clearer, but I come here week after week and I know so many of you. Many of you have enormous spiritual potential, you just don't see it. I can see it. God can see it. You have enormous spiritual potential. God has gifted you and talented you and given you health and freedom, a sharp mind and an education and talents and abilities. He doesn't mean for you to just use them on yourself. One day you will stand before God and He will say, "What did you do with what I gave you?"

Are you willing to be used by God? To say "God, anytime, anywhere, any place, use me. Whatever it means. If it means putting my agenda, my goals, my dreams, my plans, my financial package all on a line -- go ahead. I cannot stand another day without being in Your will completely."

But it starts with a desire. It's as if I were to hold your head under water until you were gasping for breath and with the last ounce of energy you sprung up against me to force yourself up so you could breathe. That's the kind of desire you've got to have.

I can't go on another day without saying, Jesus Christ, own me completely and make me what You made me to be in the first place. I'm willing to give up whatever it takes to give up to be the person I was designed to be in the first place.

Does that scare you? The secret of overcoming the fear of the unknown is by focusing on what you do know. What do we know? We know God loves you, God says you matter to Him, God has your best interest at heart, He cares about you and He knows what will make you happy more than you do. That I know for sure. So I don't have any problems trusting a God I know is like that.

 

Who Are You Really? (Part 1, Matthew 1:1-17)

One of the standard ways to fill additional hours of TV footage surrounding the 3 hours of the Super Bowl consists of human interest segments. By delving into the back story of the players' lives, you care more about them as people and not just as numbers on a jersey. There are several standard plots: local boy makes good, struggling through the death of a father/mother/child, the second chance, fulfilling the promise, and so on. We know these story types (should we say stereo types?) so well that we can listen for 30 seconds and figure out how it will end. Those brief video segments help us place the person, not in terms of their few minutes of fame on the grid-iron, but in terms of their entire life.

When we come to the first chapter of Matthew, the author quickly introduces our biographical subject (Jesus):

A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:  - Matthew 1:1

Hidden in these few words are the clues that give an early reader of this book a quick sketch about who Jesus is and why should we care. Those clues are the four names Matthew uses:

1. Jesus. Matthew explains later in the chapter than Jesus was given this name (the Greek form of the name Joshua) because "because he will save his people from their sins" (verse 21).  Literally, his name means "Yahweh is rescue." The name Jesus/Joshua was probably a common name. One of Pauls' companions was named "Jesus" (Col. 4:11). But Matthew emphasizes the angel's words to focus on the rescue of the people from their sins, rather than the rescue from the sinners. Jesus was, in a sense, a second Joshua, leading the people from the 'desert' of sin, into the new hope of the kingdom 'promised land'.
2. Christ. Jesus was the Christ (Greek) or the Messiah (Hebrew). Having a last name or family name was not always common. People were often identified as a child of their parents (Jesus, son of Joseph), or someone from a particular town (Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene) or by their general relationship with some long-ago forefather (Bildad the Shuhite) or by their profession (Cooper/Chandler/Smith). within a tribe Meaning "the anointed one" it indicated someone set apart for a special role by God, either a priest (Exo. 40:3) or a king (2 Sam 5:3). To Matthew's readers, the Messiah was the God-promised deliverer, restorer of purity and destroyer of Israel's enemies.
3. David. Jesus is identified as being the "son of David". Matthew stakes a claim that Jesus is the claimant to the promised God made to King David. That promise, made about 1,000 years prior, stated that David would have a descendant on the throne of Israel forever.
4. Abraham. Jesus is also identified as being the "son of Abraham". Here, Matthew appeals to the memory of a different agreement (or covenant) that God had made with the great Bible patriarch Abraham, where he said that through him all the nations of the world would be blessed.

In a single verse, Matthew tells his readers they should expect the fulfillment of God's promises in a single person. He would rule, he would deliver and he would bless.

Next time, we will look at the exceptional nature of Jesus' genealogy.

Why Do I Have A Job?

Recently, on Facebook, I said:

"My job has the technical difficulty and significance of crossword puzzle solving."

That quote was the result of a lot of thinking I've been doing about my job, which is challenging and satisfying but ultimately insignificant. I reflect sometimes on whether anyone would notice my absence (since I work at home) or whether, if I switched jobs, how long it would take before I was just someone they blamed for the stuff that doesn't work.

Part of this is related to specialization. As jobs become more and more focused on smaller and smaller areas of expertise, each of those areas, taken alone, is less important in the grand scheme of things. It amazes me that every field of learning is incredibly deep and interesting. There is so much to absorb just about everywhere you turn. Even in my own field (PC embedded software), there are recognized experts and books and conferences and white papers and best practices. And I've been doing it for more than 20 years.

Sometimes when I start thinking too highly of myself, with my detailed technical expertise and the acclaim of my peers and track record of innovation, my conscience kicks in and I am reminded of this verse:

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. - Romans 12:3

So, how should I think of myself? How should I think about my work? Are all of the godly jobs reserved for pastors and missionaries or am I an expert in a sophisticated but ultimately second-class job? Certainly we who are in the church sometimes give that impression.

Here are a few things that God has taught me as I've been musing on this subject:

1. We Were Made to Work. Work is part of how God made us in the beginning (Genesis 1:26, 2:15, 2:19).  It is rewarding. Proverbs 12:14 says, "...the work of his hands rewards him.".  Because it is rewarding (like food!), it can also be a distraction from God. The Old Testament describes idols and our jobs with the same phrase: "the work of men's hands" (cf. Deut. 33:11, 2 Chronicles 32:19). Paul had some pretty harsh words for those who would not work. (2 Thess. 3:10)
2. My Job is Serving God. My job is spiritual. Serving at my job is serving God. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men..." (Col. 3:23)
3. Work Well Done Wins Respect. My job reflects not only on me and my family, but on God himself.  My job is a place where what I believe comes out in both pleasant and unpleasant work conditions. "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody." (1 Thess. 4:11-12)
4. My Job Is A Conduit For Blessing. My job often provides beyond my needs so that my family can be a channel for God's blessings to flow. Holding on to those blessings for myself makes those blessings rot, but passing them on makes them multiply. "...but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need" (Ephesians 4:28b, referring to reformed thieves!)

 My job is a holy calling. It is the tangible expression of God's strength through me to change the world, whereever he allows me to work.

 

Tim

The Sowing/Reaping Discrepancy

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. - 2 Corinthians 8:9

This week our pastor brought up this passage, talking about the uncertain relationship between sowing and reaping. In the movie Faith Like Potatoes a farmer makes a decision based on his trust in God to plant potatoes in a time of drought. He could not see the result of his sowing until harvest day. The weather is not under the farmer's control. Disease and rot could strike and wilt the healthiest of crops.  But no potatoes planted means no potatoes harvested.

Sowing is uncertain. Time and money and food, are invested into the dirt with no guaranteed return. But if sowing is anxious, it is the waiting for harvest that grinds us down with worry. Second-guessing. Weather watching. Crop checking.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. - Psalm 126:5-6

I have seen this myself as a computer programmer. We have developed a number of innovative new concepts in the field of PC firmware and applied for patents on these ideas. The initial work to bring the ideas about was hard work. The paperwork associated with patent filing is tedious. Then, finally, the patent is filed. Then the waiting begins. Months of silence from the U.S. Patent Office go by. Then years. Many of my patent filings have been over four years from the time they were filed until I finally was awarded my patent and received my award. And the advantages for my company for exclusive access to those innovations may be years after that. In some cases, my patents were rejected, where they were not innovative enough or where they too closely resembled a previous invention.

But the successful farmer relies on the fact that the harvest is much greater than the planting. The seed of generosity may fall on infertile ground. But it may also fall on rich, fertile soil. Oak trees use this method as a sort of search strategy to find a good growing place for a new oak. Drop a lot of acorns. Many fail. But some--a few--maybe even one--finds the perfect place for a baby oak.  Jesus said that the single seed that falls on the good dirt bears 30, 60 or even 100 times.

Generosity is like that. It may result in nothing. It may result in a huge blessing. That's not in our hands, but it is in God's. As Paul said in relation to ministry:

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7

So sow generously. Wait patiently. Rejoice at the harvest.

Tim

"The God Fund"

The first time I can remember it in our marriage was when, after selling our house and moving to El Dorado Hills, and setting up our new place on Crestline Circle, we had extra money in our bank account. Helen and I decided to set aside that money for God to use as he saw fit. As God brought needs to our attention, Helen and I would huddle and, if we both felt led, we would use it to meet that need. One time it was for a keyboard at the church, another time for one time money to help missionaries move to the field, another time to help a family where the dad had lost his job.

As years have passed, whenever extra dollars appeared unexpectedly, we considered whether it should go in the God fund. Maybe a bonus, or sometimes it was stock, or even a patent award. In some cases, it was an answer to a family need. Sometimes we decided ahead of time to put the money in the Fund, saying whatever comes from this goes there. We rarely have had a glimpse at that time of what was required; we had no specific cause or need in mind, but God obviously did. So we waited and watched and then acted.

I enjoy it because we get to be the stewards of blessings. We are part of the distribution department in God's economy of blessing. In some years, the God fund has overflowed. This year was a lean year. No worries. Just give as God gives, for God's reasons, in God's timing.

Try it. Dedicate the next unexpected blessing to the God fund. Then use that for the next prayed-for need that God brings into your life.

In Christ,

Tim

Ephesians 4:12-13: Nobody Moves Me But God.

...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 4:12-13

Why do leaders encourage service as the focus of all encouragment, cajoling, teaching, training, mentoring and resource allocation? Because of the results it produces in the church: The church is "built up." Mutual service produces a result healthier and more fruitful than any self-help or self-actualization program can achieve. Why? Because the Bible recognizes that fundamentally, each of us is inadequate. Inadequte to live healthy, fulfilling, generous lives. We need each other.

One of the areas where we really need each other is stability. Often, the perspective we need is not found in our own experience, but in the experience of those around us in the church. When we are built up, we are stable. Paul puts it like this:

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. - Ephesians 4:14

We would like to remain innocent, like children. We would like to remain unaware and trusting, like infants. We even idealize such simplicity and naivete. But young ones are easily confused. There are lots of people willing to tell you how to live your life. There are lots of plausible leaders and self-proclaimed gurus dispensing clever and convincing methods and world views and plans for us. One Dr. Seuss book introduces the Sneeches, who are broadly divided into those with a star on their belly and those without. A clever man introduces a machine which, to the horror of those born with stars, imprints stars on the bellies of all Sneeches. Then, he introduces a machine to remove the star to main the visible divide between the two classes. On one memorable page, the Sneeches are shown cycling in a figure 8 out of the machine that installs stars and then back into the one that removes them, while the clever man clutches a healthy wad of money.

But Paul points out that strong, serving church help us avoid the follies and confusion. These church-goer advantages come because of the maturing process inherent in serving each other and building each other up.

1. Our Lives Stablize. Children are easily captivated by new ideas. Children have a sense of wonder there; a sense of discovery at each new thing.  As adults we sometimes regret how mundane our perception of the world has become. Part of growing up in Christ is knowing when to hoist the sails, so to speak, to catch a fresh wind, and when to refrain. Someone recently remarked about a friend of mine that they were often surprised a few days after talking with him, when they would hear him say something, because in the intervening time he had talked with another. Mature people choose who or what will move them.
2. Our Lives Gain Direction. Much of marketing today is focused on making us dissatisfied with who we are and how we do things--convinving us that it is old, boring, sub-standard or routine. Those messages are all around us and can leave us in a state of seeking, but never finding; looking, but never landing. We are "blown here and there", never finding a direction. It is a trap, a self-perpetuating system which prevents progress by emphasizing the difficulty of any determined course of action. In the face of the trauma of change, we settle into a life of maintenance and self-comfort building.
3. We Escape Cynicism. One of the primary ways in which the world causes us to oscillate back and forth without direction is that of cynicism. Born both out of anger and pride, cynicism pokes sticky fun at any who would choose any direction at all. The more determined the direction, the more pointed the remarks. Cynicism is one of the trademarks of the "cunning and crafty": the use of ridicule to tear down opposing positions. And once one position has been reduced to rubble, cynics turn their bombardment onto the next. Someone once said, "Poke a cynic and find a burnt idealist." Been there, tried that and I'm not letting anyone get there either.

It is easy to lose perspective. It is easy for us to lie to ourselves. We need  people close enough to tell us the truth. We need people who we trust enough that their example is one we are willing to try out. We need people committed to a common purpose and direction. That is the church.

"His intent was that, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known..." - Ephesians 3:10

 Don't let anyone move you except God. And what God tells you, he should be telling others. So double check with the godly whom you trust to make sure you have heard clearly. Once you have heard the truth, and confirmed it with the godly wise, camp on that, because that is the rock.