Galatians 4:19: The Weight of Spiritual Formation

"Spiritual formation is, in practice, the way of rest for the weary and overloaded, of the easy yoke and light burden, of cleaning the inside of the cup and the dish, of the good tree that cannot bear bad fruit. And it is the path along which God's commandments are found to be not 'heavy,' not 'burdensome'" - Dallas Willard[1]

What does it look like to be transformed? Not merely changed, but improved. We are all in the process of being formed spiritually, but what shape are we taking? This process happens internally and, to my eye, it is not linear-no straight line from spiritual point A to spiritual point B. It feels erratic. I suppose it should feel that way: the result of the divine interaction between our cantankerous spirit and the spirit of God.

The pace is slow, but it is inexorable. I often wonder if God himself would echo the words of Paul, when he wrote: "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." (Gal. 4:19)

But I would not trade it for anything. Why? Because the type of person I long to be--indeed, the type of person I am becoming--lies along this path. Where I do good because I am good. Where my "want-to" wants the right things. Where what God wants is the natural overflow of who He has made me.

I have tried the alternative and I am sick of myself trying it. I long for health. "External manifestation of 'Christlikeness' is not, however, the focus of the process; and when it is made the main emphasis, the process will certainly be defeated..."[2]

Today, I am asking what I have asked for many times before: for the spirit of God to have his natural and normal result in me, calling on the promise of Jesus: "the water I will give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14b)

[1] Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 24
[2] Ibid, p. 23

James 2:18: Being and Doing

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. - James 2:18b

What is the role of mysticism--the direct experience of God--in the Christian faith? Through the centuries there have been writers and saints who have emphasized this, but not often within the evangelical or Reformed tradition. Even titles such as Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God or J.I. Packer's Knowing God seem to hold God at the distance of a dear friend-someone to be watched and emulated but not really experienced. The closest we've (Helen and I) found in our (admittedly scattered) readings comes from Tozer or Chambers, or further back from the Puritans John Owens and Jonathan Edwards.

Our tradition is skeptical of anything related to encountering God directly in any meaningful way because it is inherently subjective. Rather than relying on or seeking after the subjective, Reformed writers have preferred to stand firmly on revealed, propositional truth and suggest that the "experience" or "encounter" with God is as He is found in that truth. This skepticism can likewise be seen in the how the Spirit's role in the Christian life is treated. Scared by the potential anarchy of "new revelation" they confine the Christian experience of the Spirit to whispers in a small quasi-Scriptural box.

There are two things that came to mind as Helen and I discussed this the other day:

• Being/Doing. This is the being/doing, are/appear-to-be, faith/works tension that we all wrestle with. Some faith traditions may focus on who we are in Christ, the transformation happening internally and the trust relationship with God. Other faith traditions may focus on our changed lives, how we shine out our renewed life in Christ, and how God uses our lives to change the world. Bit, this is not a either/or, it is a both/and. But to what degree?
• Integrity. Integrity is the unity between who we are on the inside and who we appear to be on the outside; the faith that is on the inside and the matching works on the outside; the life-giving transformation by the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. James calls those who lack this integrity double-minded (James 1:8). Jesus termed it hypocrisy (cf. Matthew 6:5).

Does truth lead to closeness with God (the route familiar to me in my upbringing)? Or is it a closeness with God that brings us to the truth?

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. - 1 John 4:16b

Fundamentally, the Christian life is a trust relationship, not in a proposition ('Gravity won't let me down'), but in a person ('God will neither abandon nor forsake me.'). However, the moment we describe a person, propositions are attached. "God is love" is a good example. There is a person behind the proposition.

...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. - John 17:21

The Bible says there is potential for an incredibly close relationship between us and God. Mysticism seeks to describe what that connection looks like; what resonating with the heartbeat of God teaches us; what it feels like; where takes us. Some Christian mystics assert more: a connection with God separate from the thoughts and emotions. Seems tenuous to me.

Matthew 18:22: Apologize Often, Forgive Freely

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity - Hanlon's Razor

There is malice. There is stupidity. Don't mix them up.

When David writes, "They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship." (Ps. 109:5), it sounds familiar.  Stories told and words misquoted. Merit ignored or squashed. Helpfulness spat upon. Plans ridiculed. We all maintain a catalog of offenses against us, indexed by time, person and subject matter. The worst ones are those calculated deliberately to hurt.

Once a restaurant featured their special of the day on a large sign outside-a mouthwatering entree at an attractive price. How sad was the face of the waiter who came to tell me that there was a mistake and the special was not available

Likewise, how humbling to find that among my cataloged entries of offenses, there was no malice at all, merely ignorance? I had been holding on to my anger, nursing it along, the pages of that catalog entry dog-eared from my repeated recollections. Only to find that there was no ill-will, just ill-conceived, or ignorant or, at worst, thoughtless. How much time and energy was wasted.

Worse, I know that I have often been misunderstood because I am dumb or tactless or blind. I also know how difficult it has been to convince the other person (or people) of my sheer stupidity. I get it. It is energizing about holding on to that anger and that sense that they were wrong and I was right. Giving that up leaves my pain, in some sense, unaccounted for.

But because I am so prone to it myself, I came up with this phrase to reinforce a best practice in my life: Apologize often; forgive freely. 

I recognize that I make mistakes--foolish, unintentional, hurtful mistakes-all the time. Or I suspect that I do, but am not sure. So I'd better just apologize often and up front to defuse hurt feelings. Preemptive apologizing.

I also realize that others do the same to me. Rather than speculate on their motives. Rather than presume malice. So I will forgive freely. In Jesus' bookkeeping terms:

I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. - Matthew 18:22

However, this week, I realized that my habit was fraying. Situations were left with forgiveness unspoken and apologies unoffered. I didn't realize it until I was reading a bishop's sermon in the detective novel, Precious and Grace, where he says: "My brothers and sisters: do not be afraid to profess forgiveness."[1]

The word "afraid" struck me. Yes, I had become afraid. Unwilling. Stubborn. Needing to go back to Jesus and tell him I'd been hoarding his forgiveness and not extending it to others. Afraid to give up feeling wronged, so that I could feel I was right.

The word "profess" challenged me to say the words. "It is forgiven." Not just rid from my heart, but making it all the way to my lips. "It is finished."

How about you? Are you tightfisted with your apologies or your forgiveness? Me, too. But let us apologize often today, and forgive freely today. As Jesus prayed:

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. - Luke 11:4

[1] Alexander McCall Smith, Precious and Grace

Luke 22:21-24: The Traitor at the Table

The grace and hospitality we receive from God at His table compels us to offer grace and hospitality to the hurting and broken in our world - Pastor Mike Lueken

Jesus pictured his kingdom as a banquet. The surprising aspect of his meals was who was invited and who accepted. In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son accepts the Father's invitation while the older son stays outside in anger (Luke 15). The invited wedding banquet guests decline, but the willing bystander enjoys the festivities (Matthew 22). In the last supper, Jesus says "I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you..." (Luke 22:15) N.T. Wright adds, "Jesus' kingdom-stories made it clear that all and sundry were potential beneficiaries, with the most striking examples being the poor and sinners."[1]

• Jesus extends an open invitation to join him at the table. 
• He welcomes those who come. 
• He challenges those to live as his renewed community. 
• He summons those to join him on his mission.

Jesus lived out his own parables when he invited his disciples to celebrate a Passover meal with him. Strangely--at least to me--each time this last supper is described, he describes the presence of traitors at the table. Apparently, it wasn't clear who it would be:

But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray me.... The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing. - Luke 22:21, 23

While Judas was the focus of Jesus' attention at the meal in this regard, Jesus was aware how fragile the loyalty of all of the followers at the table. Watch their reactions to Jesus:

And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” ... Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” - Matthew 26:21-22, 25

They weren't sure it wasn't them. They weren't sure it wasn't someone else with them. Jesus had already called out their faith as fragile (Matt. 26:34-35) In fact, "Judas's act of betrayal differed in degree, but not in kind from many other disloyalties...the most powerful message of Jesus was his unquenchable love even for-especially for--people who betrayed him."[2]

The difference was not in the degree of treachery, but in the trust in God's mercy.

The seat at the table is just as level-setting as the foot of the cross. We are all equal. We all come to the table not just as failures, but as traitors. We all come to the table in need of grace and Jesus' welcome. We all can help others come to Jesus' table by offering them the same grace and welcome that Jesus offers us.


[1]N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, p. 245
[2]Philip Yancey, Grace Notes, March 15

Luke 12:34: Such Is Each One As Is His Love

Such is each one as is his love.- Augustine[1]

What we love determines the trajectory of our lives. Even when disoriented, confused or derailed, our natural tendency is to re-orient ourselves toward that which we love. As Jesus said, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)

Sometimes we are not aware of the love which has primacy in our hearts. Or we are not willing to admit it, even to ourselves. Maybe it is acceptance, acclaim, influence, security, comfort, or control. What we love shows in what irritates us, and what we are willing to fight for, what calls forth our utmost exertion and what can cast us into despair. God uses these as tests, to draw our loves out into the open, not so that he would know our deep longings, but so that they would be revealed to us.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? - James 4:1

We find out what kind of person we really are--and what we really love. Then we can (1) run from that, (2) shove that realization to the side, (3) embrace that or (4) reject that as disappointing and ultimately, damaging. It may be a good thing--an excellent thing--but it is unable to bear the weight of our soul. Augustine says:

Wherever the soul of man turns, unless towards God, it cleaves to sorry, even though the things outside God and outside itself to which it cleaves may be things of beauty. - Augustine[2]

So today, I will begin with this determination: to love the Lord my God with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.

[1] Quoted in David K. Naugle, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), xi., cited in Tim Keller, Prayer, p. 193
[2] Augustine, Confessions 4.10.15, cited in Tim Keller, Prayer, p. 194

Psalm 103: Talking to Yourself in the Presence of God

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— - Psalm 103:1-2

The use of pronouns in the prayers of the Psalms always confused me.

• Sometimes the writer is talking to God (Ps. 22), 
• Sometimes the writer is talking to the audience there with him in the temple (Ps. 68:26) or the nations (Ps. 47), 
• Sometimes the writer is talking to the mountains and the rivers (Ps. 98), 
• Sometimes the writer is switching back and forth (Ps. 25:1-7, 16-22 are talking to God  and 8-15 are talking to the congregation.

But I realized today that there is another category: sometimes the writer talks to his/herself-while praying-in the presence of God. These are the "O my soul" psalms. The writer argues and encourages his "soul" to trust in God. In Psalm 103: "He does this by chiding his heart that tends to 'forget' its salvation...his heart forgets in that our instinctive responses and drives and emotions and attitudes do not connect themselves to the truths we profess."[1]

This isn't just self-talk, such as we do when we're in stressful situations, where we say: "You can do it, Tim!" or "Get your act together, Tim!" Self-talk is focused on convincing me that self can do it or self should do better. But these psalms are focused on what God has done and is doing. For example (continuing in Psalm 103):

...who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. - Psalm 103:3-5

Stress pushes our history with God from our minds. Satan uses this spiritual amnesia to keep us focused on survival fight-or-flight reactions to that stress. For me, prayer revitalizes those hard-won lessons learned while walking with God, bringing them fresh to the current situation. My mind surfaces doubts, regrets and fears and my mind recalls trust in Jesus, forgiveness through Jesus and security in Jesus.

At the end of Psalm 103, the writer (of course) switches pronouns to give a little over-the-top advice for those watching God at work:

Praise the Lord, you his angels...Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts...Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul. - Psalm 103:20-22

[1] Tim Keller, Prayer (New York, NY: Dutton), p. 153

Psalm 1: Conduits vs. Trees

The tree is no mere channel, piping water unchanged from one place to another, but a living organism which absorbs it, to produce in due course something new and delightful, proper to its kind and to its time. - Derek Kidner[1]

I have often thought of God's life-giving grace as something which God gives to us with the intent that we would, in turn, give it to others. We act as a sort of conduit or channel of grace. This word picture was helpful in my conversations to describe God's intent that we were not the intended end-point of his grace. We should not be a point of blockage or diversion.

But in reading this quote this morning, I realized that my working picture was inadequate. The electrical conduit or water channel does not change the form of what it receives, it merely passes it along. Also, the conduit doesn't grow and the channel doesn't alter. But the tree takes what comes in-soil, sun and water-and expresses it in a new, fresh and yet entirely dependent way: trunk, branches, leaves, fruit, shade, and protection.

We receive God's grace, it transforms us and we produce the fruit of the Spirit and (my wife mentioned) shelter for others to grow and flourish (shalom). God's grace does not retain the same form. It is expressed in as many unique ways as there are children of God.

His grace takes many forms, but one of the most available is his Word. The Bible says that God's replenishes those "...whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."(Ps. 1:2-3)

So this week I am considering myself a tree.



[1]Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, vol. 15 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), p. 48 as cited by Tim Keller, Prayer (New York, NY: Dutton, 2014), p. 148

Help, Thanks, Wow...Sorry?

I remember when I read Anne Lamott's book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, I really appreciated her taking a step back and discussing frankly what can and ought to prompt anyone to prayer. She didn't assume a Christian or even a traditionally religious viewpoint for the beginning of her discussion. I found her thin little book thought-provoking and refreshing.

When I finished it, however, it seemed somehow incomplete--missing a word. As I cataloged my own prayers, there was one category that wasn't categorized by the help/thanks/wow trilogy and I summarized it as: Sorry.

As I've worked my way through Tim Keller's book, Prayer, I found similar thoughts: "It is striking, though, that the book leaves out one of the most crucial classical categories of prayer, namely confession and repentance." (p. 61) Sorry.

Helen reminded me of the old acronym that we heard for pray: ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication). Adoration is Wow! Thanksgiving is Thanks! and Supplication is Help. But, there it is again, that missing piece: Sorry.

I realized that Sorry is essential because we have a relationship with God. With any relationship, there is the potential for hurting the other person, realizing that we have caused hurt, and seeking restoration. 'Sorry' starts us on the path for closing the relational gap with God.

Church Introductions to Jesus

This question was presented to me while I was having coffee with a pastor friend of mine. For him, it has been the meat of his wrestling with God over the course of a few pastorates. As people become less familiar with the language and culture of the Bible, the church and the Christian faith, how do churches facilitate the process in keeping with the mandate to make disciples?

When we speak of making disciples, we both refer not just to the initial apprenticing to Jesus (conversion), but the lifelong apprenticeship (discipleship). The means that we use for the latter may obstruct those interested in the former. Further, what is the role of Sunday morning in this? I didn't have a good answer for him.

But I was reminded of a book that we had both read (Vertical Church) where the author, James MacDonald insists that the church must focus on what is available nowhere else. So I followed that thought and see where it led me. I've come up with three:

1. The Presence of God. God is unique, and wholly other. The church strives to invite people to meet God, with all the emotions that can bring. Paul says, But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in ... they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor. 14:24a, 25b). His presence is solely at his discretion and that is what make's it unique. It cannot be manufactured. The genuine sense of his presence, the conviction of his Spirit and the miraculous cannot conjured up and therefore act as pointers to a God who is not like us but is with us.
2. The Power of God's Word. The words of God are unique. They are life-changing, heaven-initiated revelation. These words are the authority on which the truth-claims of the faith are based. Paul says, "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.." (Eph. 3:10)  People were hungry for this (Matt. 7:28)
3. The People of God. The love expressed with the community of God's people is unique. Jesus testified: By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35) 

Jesus often drew crowds. The early church drew crowds (Acts 2:47). These crowds came because they hungered for the presence of God, the power of God's word and new identity as His people.

Hurry and the Promised Land

"God is not in any particular hurry to get us to the Promised Land." - Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

Truth. When the Israelites came to the banks of the Jordan River but grumbled and complained at the plan to cross over into Canaan, God let them wander for 40 more years, because he wanted his people's hearts and character to be ready for the blessing that he wanted to give.  When they changed their minds and insisted that they had learned their lesson (Numbers 14:40), he chased them away from the river.

Sometimes God has things for me to do, and I grumble, complain and hesitate. Rather than demanding compliance, he takes me on another loop around Mt. Sinai and brings me back to the same decision again. Again, I am asked to compare the desert of my circumstances with the blessings of his promise and choose whether I will trust Him. He is in no hurry. He will wait for me.

John 21: Don't Waste Your Life

Don’t Waste Your Life

John 21:17-22

Introduction

When we visited the Sacramento Zoo last month, we were introduced to two interesting characters: Herkimer and Anasazi, father and son desert tortoises. Herkimer was actually born around 1927, although they’re not quite sure, and donated to the zoo when it first opened. Most of his time is spent in the giraffe pen. Anasazi turned 25 this year and regularly entertains guests by sprinting across the landscape, followed by his minder. What got me to thinking was: Herkimer was at least 64(!) when Anasazi was born. Maybe we wonder: What was he thinking? Or, with more respect: That’s a bold move for a senior citizen.

That got me to thinking: are there areas in my life that I have placed off limits to God because I’m too old? Like Sarah did when she heard God promise another chapter in her life and she laughed. But God did add another chapter and she gave birth to Isaac whose name means: “He laughs.” You might laugh at the thought that your most productive years in the kingdom lie ahead of you, but God laughs last.

We don’t think of it like that. We say things like:

• I’m too tired (or burnt out) to start at the beginning again.
• I’ve put in my time.
• I will, after I finish school, or once kids get into school, or once they graduate and out of the house, or one on a secure financial footing, or once…
• If I could just fit it in between my doctors’ appointments.
• I’m not really qualified, or I’ve done things by which I’ve disqualified myself.

Here’s my point: Don’t Waste the Rest of Your Life and Don’t Limit What God Can Use The Rest Of Your Life For.

Paul puts it this way:

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. – Philippians 3:13-15a

This is not a young man’s goal. This is a mature man or woman’s goal.

We were always watching the U.S. Olympic trials as those athletes strained toward the goal. What interested me was the longer distance runners. They paced themselves for the first laps of the race, trying to stay with the pack, setting up for a winnng time. But during the last lap of the race something remarkable happens: as tired as they are, as many laps as they have run, they speed up! They push harder! They lean forward (like Lightning McQueen in Cars, with the tongue hanging out) to reach that finish line.

The rest of your life is the best of your life. The time to accelerate is when the finish line is getting closer.  When the applause of the great cloud of witnesses swells to fortississimo. Where the author and finisher of our faith waits to shout, “Well done.”

John Piper, in his insightful book Don’t Waste Your Life, finds tragedy in the story of a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.”  Is that what we want to end our life with? “Here, Lord, see my beautiful shell collection.”?[1]

These shells—they are life wasters.  Many good people miss God’s purpose and waste their life. One of the saddest verses in the Bible shows up in Luke:

“But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves…” – Luke 7:30a

Earnest, well-meaning, moral, well-educated, civic minded, Bible-based citizens not only missed God’s purpose for their lives, but rejected it. It wasn’t that they didn’t know, but that they didn’t want to know. We make conscious choices that waste our lives, or we slip into wastage. These life wasters are habits that convince us that God’s purpose is better left undiscovered and untraveled. The first life waster is regret.

Waste Life Regretting

If there was ever a man with regrets, it was Simon Peter. Runner up in the category for best traitor, just behind Judas Iscariot. Claimed he would die for Jesus, but sold him out for a bit of anonymity around a campfire. Called “Satan!” by Jesus. Found a sword, used it badly and then was reprimanded by Jesus. Watched Jesus die, but then, no, he doesn’t stay dead, he comes back and his life is a physical reminder of Peter’s every doubt and failure. Then he tells Peter to go back to the beginning, to Galilee. Back where he met Jesus as a fisherman. Back where Jesus first called him, “Peter” Back where Jesus challenged him, “Come, follow me.”

So John records how Peter and some of the other disciples hike back to Galilee and apparently Jesus is a bit late so Peter decides (John 21:3) he’s going fishing. The others join him. Then Jesus appears and calls to them, just like in the beginning. Then Peter leaves his nets to see Jesus, just like in the beginning. Then Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Just like in the beginning.

You can never go back. You can’t make those decisions over again. You can’t retrace your steps and take the road less traveled or the word better not spoken or leave the invitation untaken. But no matter what, Jesus invitation still awaits, “Come and follow me.”

We may not want to invest a lot in God because, frankly, we’ve made quite a hash of being good already. Our bad choices have hurt us, they have damaged the ones we loved, they have disappointed God and permanently closed off paths and avenues that might have led to our happiness. Not through mistakes—no, nor stupidity, but through bald-faced selfishness and cowardice.  But somehow, the invitation of Jesus remains, even after that, knowing the truth about us, “Come, follow me.”

Paul reflected on this to his friend Timothy when he said,

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. – 1 Timothy 1:13-14

The question is not: What if I did things differently? The question is: What if I do things differently. So don’t waste the rest of your life on regret, spend it lavishly for God’s purposes.

Waste Life Avoiding or Tolerating People

The second life waster is avoiding and tolerating people. We shield ourselves from people. We don’t answer the phone from people, return e-mails from people, approach people, get involved with certain people. People who look like X, act like X, smell like X, say things like X, act like that, ask awkward questions like X. We avoid them or tolerate them. Some of those people are in our family. Or, in our church. Or in our neighborhood.

Jesus encountered uncomfortable people and his response was invariably to turn toward the mess. Not avoid. Not mitigate. Not tolerate. But love. Lepers. Untouchables. Demonized. Outcast. Cast out. Diseased. Unfriended. Awkward.

When Peter came off of the boat in John, chapter 21, there was Jesus, on the shore. Three times he asks Peter: Do you love me? Three times Peter responds: You know I do, Lord. Three times, Jesus replies: Feed my sheep. Mine. Not yours. I choose. You don’t choose—you care for them. You love them. But I choose them.

When you hear this, you think: “I’m not the pastor, not the leader, not the deacon.” But there’s nothing in “feeding the sheep” that isn’t found in the commands to love one another, carry one another’s burdens, etc. that are for all of us.

When you hear this, you’re probably like me, thinking: “I’m not Jesus. I can’t handle that.” That’s ok. You’re not Jesus. They can’t handle you either. But Jesus didn’t ask that. I’ve got some suggestions:

1. Do for the one what you wish you could do for the many. You can’t help everybody. We are not God. But we can start doing for one what we wish we could do for the many. Your job is not to fill their cup. Your job is to empty your cup. [2]
2. Stop expecting our friend flock should be full of county fair prize winners. Sheep are messy and lead messy lives. The cemetery is the only place full of no-fuss neighbors.
3. When our thoughts say “How could they…” or “If they only...” it is a signal we need to turn toward (not away from) the mess. Paul wrote to Titus: “slander no one, be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone [because] At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.” (Titus 2:2-3) 

When we avoid or tolerate, we waste our lives because our purpose is to be life-giving outpost of the kingdom of God where he has placed us, with the people he has placed near us. If you love him, feed his sheep.

Waste Life Envying

The third way that we waste our lives is by envying.

There’s a sort of funny coda to the end of Peter’s story, where Jesus commands him: “Follow me.” Apparently Jesus actually started walking away and wanted Peter to follow. So Peter does and then he turns and looks over his shoulder and there is John. So he asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” (John 21:21)

That question--“What about him?”--really translates to “Am I getting the raw deal?” or “Could I be getting something better?” During this post-resurrection period, Peter and John and the other disciples haven’t understood how the whole kingdom of God thing is going to work. In fact, just before Jesus ascends back into heaven, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) They are still working within the model that Jesus is going to usher in the next phase in God’s program (“the age to come”, true) and that everything is going to be set right.

It is within this context that Jesus says to Peter: there’s going to come a day where you are going to be weak, so weak you can’t dress yourself, and powerless, led to a place you don’t want to go, and die to glorify God. Peter says: wait, wait, I don’t understand. If the kingdom of God wins, and I get this role, was it because of something I said, or did. Wait, what about John, does he get a better deal because he didn’t do the whole give-up-on-Jesus-bit, because he was assigned to take care of Mary at the cross?

Jesus has strong words for Peter: “What is that to you? What happens if I give him the better deal of living until kingdom comes [and you don’t]? Follow me!” Your fate is good. You’re forgiven. You’re in. It’s all good. This is not a limited grace universe.

We can spend a lot of time comparing our lives to those of other people.  Jesus asks you: what is that to you? Come, follow me.

How come their families stayed together? How come they didn’t get sick? How come there were no shootings in their neighborhood?

Paul looks at it from a different angle

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal glory that outweighs them all. – 2 Corinthians 4:7,8-12

Mount Testaccio, outside Rome, is an artificial hill 115 feet high and covering more than 5 acres, that is composed exclusively of the shards of an estimated 53 million amphora—Roman jars of clay. In Most jars were stamped with where they came from, the official opinion about their contents, how they measured up, but they all ended up on the junk heap. [3]

Why? Because the value is not in the pot! The value is in what the pot carries, in this case: olive oil from all over the Roman world.

That’s what Paul says: our lives are like pots—jars of clay--something which is used for a purpose. We were called, fashioned, created to carry the very Spirit of the living God. We can go around comparing pot design, pot capacity, pot point-of-origin, pot inspector approval stickers, who bought the pots—all perfectly good archaeological questions and the focus of billions of dollars of annual pot cosmetic sales—but it misses the point: the value of the pot is the value of what it carries. And if there are a few nicks and cracks here and there, that’s just the place where the Spirit of God can leak out or shine through.

Perhaps the jar is tossed away, but it can be reformed. Do you know the primary use of amphorae? They were ground down into powder to be used in one of the greatest Roman inventions: concrete. Even as we are wasting away, God is reforming us, fashioning us into the very blocks of his temple, building upon (as Paul says) the foundation of apostles and prophets upon the chief cornerstone, Jesus.

There is a story that says: you are wasting away. That this is a young man or woman's world. That past 20 your body starts to go downhill, at 25 your brain starts to lose more neurons than it gains. But that isn’t the complete story: because simultaneously, and often in parallel with wasting away, we are renewed.

Conclusion

There is a real danger, the further we get along in life, to assume that the best years are behind us. Illness and pain and missed opportunities dominate our thinking. Our culture reinforces this with the deification of youth, our infatuation with prodigies.

Here are ten ways you are getting better at doing what God has called you to do:

1. There are spiritual insights that you have now that you didn’t have when you were younger.
2. There are paths you took when you were younger that you wouldn’t want anyone to take after you.
3. There are accumulated resources (time, treasure, talents) that you can share with someone else.
4. There is influence that God has given you that you can use on someone else’s behalf, among friends, institutions, agencies and, through prayer, with God.
5. There are delays and roadblocks you have waited out that taught you pace and patience in God’s time.
6. There are reservoirs of love, kindness and generosity that others have poured into you so you can embrace hard-to-love people.
7. There are accumulated reserves of joy that let you donate some to those around you who are down. 
8. There are experiences, painful, deep and profound, that you carry with you that allow to come alongside those who struggle with sympathy and without judgement.
9. There are more stories, funny and sad, that make you the fascinating individual you are today, not a generic infant.
10. There are more friends and family. As I thought about this, it became clear how blessed we are to stand on the foundation provided by the faithfulness and consistency of generations gone before. 

But these will never do you any good, unless you take Paul’s advice.


When I had a spare weekend in Taiwan a few years ago, I wandered up to the northwest corner of Taipei County to Tamsui. As I wandered along the river, I noticed a life-sized, polished brass statue on the river pier of a man kneeling in prayer next to a boat in which lay an open Bible. That man was George Leslie Mackay. In 1872, George Mackay was the first foreign missionary commissioned by the Canadian Presbyterian Church. Starting as an itinerant dentist, he went on to plant churches, start what is today the Mackay Memorial Hospital and the first institutions for higher learning: Aleuthia University.  He was tireless, fluent, endlessly fascinated by local culture while at the same time drying his clothes at night with the bonfire of idolatrous paper offerings gathered from his evangelistic efforts. At the time of his death, there were 2,400 baptized communicants and over 60 local churches led by local preachers. [4]

His influence is so profoundly felt in Taiwan that in 2008 the Taiwanese government commissioned an opera based on his life, titled Mackay: The Black Bearded Bible Man.

In the museum tracing his life, I read these words of his, “It is better to burn up than rust out.”

Paul comments to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:6ff) that he is being poured out like a drink offering, he has fought the good fight and run the good race. You might think he’s all done, ready to wait patiently for the end. But in the following verses, he goes on to tell Timothy (effectively): “bring my cloak, I’m cold.” And “don’t forget my Bible scrolls, I need to read up.” And “Oh, get Mark and bring him along, he’s useful for the ministry.” He wanted his life to be used up to the very end.

The Bible says: “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died,” (Acts 13:36, NRSV)
That’s what I want for my life. That’s what I want for yours. Not wasting our life in regret, in avoiding people, in envying someone else’s job. But delighting in God’s unique purpose for our lives.

Let us pray.

[1] Reader’s Digest, cited in John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, Crossway, copyright © 2003 Desiring God Foundation, p. 46

[2] Commonly heard from Andy Stanley, cf: Deep and Wide, Andy Stanley, Zondervan, 2012
[2] Trash Talk, Archaeology Magazine, Volume 62, Number 2 (March/April 2009). Available now from http://archive.archaeology.org/0903/abstracts/monte_testaccio.html and Mount Testaccio, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Testaccio, retrieved July 25, 2016
[3] Taken from the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Volume 34, No. 4 (October 2010), pp. 221-228 as reproduced on http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/2010-04/2010-04-221-rohrer.html, retrieved on July 9, 2016

Luke 18:18-30: High Definition

[This sermon was first preached at Cornerstone Christian Church on May 29, 2016]

High Definition

Luke 18:18-30

Introduction: A Life for the Ages (vs. 18-19)

What do The Ark of the Covenant, R2D2, a jewel encrusted falcon statue, the One Ring and a brief case all have in common? They are all examples of a macguffin.

A macguffin is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The specific nature of a MacGuffin is typically unimportant to the overall plot.[1]

Sometimes the Bible tosses around terms that seem like macguffins: holiness, or kingdom of God or heaven. The good guys want to find it. The bad guys don’t want us to find it. But what is it? All three of his biographers capture Jesus’ encounter with a man who brought an important question about one of those terms: eternal life. Matthew records it. Mark records it. Luke tells it like this (chapter 18, starting in verse 18):

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”

What do we know about this man? Well:

• He was a ruler. He might even have been one of the 70 members of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin.
• He was rich. Down just a bit, in verse 23, he is described as wealthy. Lots of property.
• He was young. By our best guess, he was between 21-28 years old. (see Matthew 19:22)
• He was a good man. He wasn’t sleeping with anyone’s wife, wasn’t lying about people, wasn’t knocking people off, he was on good terms with his father and mother and he “loved his neighbor as himself.” (see Matthew 19:19)
• He was polite. The phrase “good teacher” is sort of over-the-top politeness. Like if you went up to your high school teacher and addressed them as Lord Hummel or Lord Pitts or Lady Ryan. Of course, if I was a teacher and you did that to me, I’d be immediately suspicious … and so was Jesus.
• He was loved by Jesus. Mark’s version of this meeting says “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
• He was spiritually engaged. We’ll talk about this more in a bit, but clearly he wants to know what his part is in God’s bigger plan.

In short, all of the mothers considered him a very eligible match. Somehow, at this young age he had managed his money well, gained a great degree of influence, garnered the good opinion of the latest rabbi/prophet in Galilee, kept his life from going off the rails and had a spiritual component. The first century ideal. What more could you want?

Look at his question for Jesus: What must I do to inherit eternal life? Now let me stop you right there. He is not asking “How do I get to heaven?” What he’s really ask is: how do I get to take part in the big thing that God is about to do next?

Israel is occupied territory. Rome is brutally in control, extracting every bit of wealth it can from the lucrative north-south trade route between Byzantium (Istanbul) and Egypt, the bread basket of the empire. Every Jewish child knew that Israel was in trouble because of disobedience to God, but that one day, God would restore his people from their spiritual exile, return to Jerusalem, and inaugurate a new age (as opposed the current age, which he would abolish) and a new kingdom (as opposed to either the corrupt Herod-filled puppet kings or the Romans, take your pick)

Why do I give you this history lesson? Because the burning question of Jesus’ day was: when God does this--and they were sure that God was up to something, he’d been quiet for far too long—who would be a part of this new age—this new kingdom? Who would inherit? I mean, it was clear that the pagan Romans weren’t going to be in it, right? But what about the collaborators or tax collectors or liberals or men who stared to long at women or women who let you see their ankles? Yes, they might be Jewish but … they would stink up the kingdom.

Now let’s go back to his question: What must I do to inherit eternal life—a part in God’s huge plan that we’ve been waiting for desperately? I think I’ve got what it takes but I want to make sure. Do I pass the sniff test?

Hang with me here: Why does he need to ask the question if he’s so eminently well-qualified for the kingdom of God? Jesus had just said something in this chapter that had rocked this young man’s world. Something that all three biographers of Jesus insist on recording just before this incident (vs. 15):

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Luke 18:15-17

Are babies rich? (no, very dependent) Are babies influential? (only by crying) Are babies good? (no, they are selfish) Are babies polite? (babies, theaters, don’t do it) Are babies young? (ok, we’ll give them that) Now Jesus says that they are the models for the people who will inherit the coming age, who will populate the kingdom of God. Mind blown. World view turned upside down and shaken like a rag doll.

This man who thinks of himself as the perfect candidate suddenly is not so sure. So he asks: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus says: do you want to know? If you’re going to call me ‘good’ (something that really only applies to God) then you’d better be ready to accept what I’m going to tell you. Don’t go to Jesus like he’s Dr. Phil, or Judge Judy; go to Jesus like he’s God. My friends, are you ready for what God is going to tell you?

Is What God Wants What I’m Hoping For? (vs. 20-23)

Here’s what Jesus asked:

“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

At this point, this guy is feeling good. He didn’t hurt anybody. He was the embodiment of America’s prevailing business ethic, as seen in Google’s motto “do no harm”.  What he really wants Jesus to say is, “You have answered wisely. You’re in. That little child stuff was for those people. In fact, I’d like you to invite you into my inner circle. In fact, I could really use your connections to help spread the good word.”

But that’s not what Jesus said:

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

There’s a lot here in Jesus’ words, so we’ll take a little time to unpack it. Jesus’ words test who you are, not so that God will know, but so that you will know. Here’s what this man found out:

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

Was what he claimed he wanted what he really wanted? No. I’m not sure he knew. He thought he loved God; he thought he wanted the kingdom that Jesus talked; but he didn’t.  He wanted status; he wanted priority access; he wanted the perks; he wanted control.

How about you? Is what God wants what you are hoping for?

Those commandments that Jesus listed—they are taken from the second half of the Ten Commandments—that Moses recorded in the 2^nd book of the Bible, Exodus. This guy, he had that second half down. But the first half…that’s where things fall apart. In chapter 20 of Exodus, Moses records Commandment #1:

I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)

“No other gods”… What does that mean? Well, Commandment #2, we have the answer:

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.” (Exodus 20:4-5)

When we hear “idol” we think of American Idol with thousands of screaming fans, or maybe we think of some Raiders of the Lost Ark statue with bowing, chanting devotees. But really, anything in life (money, sex, power)—anything—can act as an idol, a God-alternative-a counterfeit god.

Pastor Tim Keller describes it this way:

“A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be:

·         Family and children, or

·         Career and making money, or

·         Achievement and critical acclaim, or

·         ‘saving face’ and social standing.

·         A romantic relationship,

·         Peer approval,

·         Competence and skill,

·         Secure and comfortable circumstances,

·         Your beauty or your brains,

·         A great political or social cause,

·         Your morality and virtue, or even

·         Success in the Christian ministry.

When your meaning in life is to fix someone else’s life, we may call it ‘co-dependency’ but it is really idolatry, have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.” There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to something, but perhaps the best one is worship.”[2]

Jesus tested him: Give up ruler and be follower. Give up influential and be childlike. Give up rich and become one of the poor. Give up earth and gain heaven. This is how God finds out who our god really is: he tests us.  What are we really hoping for? What God wants? Or something else?

What have the tests in my life told me about what I’m really hoping for?

Is What God Offers What I Really Want? (vs. 24-26)

When Jesus saw this guy’s reaction (vs. 24), Luke records that:

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Why is Jesus so hard on rich people? Some people have mitigate the strength of Jesus’ language by looking for other explanations about gates or ropes. Let’s be clear: Jesus doesn’t mean that it’s difficult for rich people, he means it is impossible. The disciples are so startled that they blurt out:

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

And Jesus replies:

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

If you’re like me, counterfeit gods are hard to detect because they are good things—gifts from God. But they have taken a place in our hearts reserved for God. Some of you are still back there at the beginning, wondering if I’m asking you to empty your bank account. Let me ask you: are you willing? Willing to let God empty your bank account, bankrupt your portfolio, spend your capital recklessly, for God’s plans? Are you willing to let God diminish your reputation, kill your personal PR campaign, exhaust all of your influence for God’s plans? How about your retirement plans, your summer plans, this evening’s plans, is the other 24/6 interruptible for God’s plans? Because God wants to know, are you his or are you yours?

God is offering freedom. Freedom from the good things that we promoted to the best thing, only to have it enslave us. God is offering renewal. Renewal of emotions, thoughts, energy…all of who we are. Is what God offers what I really want?

Poker Vs. Blackjack

Some people play their life like poker. You want to win, you have to go through the other players. Basically, you play the hand you’re dealt and you can improve your situation a bit. There’s good strategy, like not drawing to an inside straight. But the real skilled poker players know how to bluff; how to control their emotions; how to optimize their hidden weaknesses or strengths. Other than dispensing the cards, the dealer—God--has nothing to do with it.

Other people play their life like blackjack. You want to win, you have to go through the dealer. The other players have nothing to do with it. Fortunately, the dealer has to play by the rules, and if you know the rules you can work the odds. How good or bad the other players doesn’t affect your winnings, unless you get to involved with them.

What is the problem with these strategies? They try to control the cards. They are risk mitigation strategies. They are percentage plays. But it’s a lie. It’s a lie that keeps us stuck in a gambling addiction—an addiction that the rich (those with discretionary income) are more susceptible to, because we think we can get back to the table and win more or win back what they’ve list. It’s a lie that teaches us to ignore the dealer—God. (52 card pick up)

Some people try to get what they want by going around God. Ignoring him. Dismissing him. Minimizing him.

Some people try to get what they want through God. Find the rules, use them to use God to achieve happiness, a safe family, good health or security. But…

God can be an obstacle to what you want.

God can be the means to what I want.

God can be what I want.

Seek your happiness in the Lord and he will give you your heart’s desire. - Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

Is What God Provides What I’m Longing For? (vs. 28-30)

Now Peter has been following Jesus’ conversation carefully, and he raises the salient point: If following God doesn’t get me the good stuff, what’s the point? Is What God Provides What I’m Longing For?

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

America is in the process of destroying families. The nuclear family has gone nuclear. Broken apart, we still long for home, we still long for family, we still long to belong.  But, as a nation, we have decided we would rather be orphans.

Jesus was ready. He has created a new family, not based on genealogy or ethnicity or skin color or culture or lineage or ancestry, but based on ties with Jesus himself—ties forged in his own blood, given to purchase us back from the counterfeit gods into whose slavery we have sold ourselves.

For even if there are so-called gods, , whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. – 1 Corinthians 8:5-6

Church is broken. We are broken. But the plans he has for you are tied to his family. You can’t opt out because there are no healthy Christian orphans. He reached out to us, like a good older brother, to gather us in. kuya Jesus, gege Jesoo, oppa Jesu, hermano mayor Jesus, ba->deb hay Jesu. His family is his blessing. Treat his family, the church, as his blessing.

I learned this from my wife Helen's family. After Helen and I were married, I made the decision to go visit her mother--my mother-in-law--by myself in the her home town of Abulug, on the north coast of the largest of the Philippine islands. I had met her mother before, but I had never been there. What I found was the entire neighborhood--barangay--was related to Helen or had gone to school with Helen. Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas galore! So there I was--I didn't know them and they didn't know me. But because I was related to Helen, I wasn't an outsider! I was in! They welcomed me. They introduced me to everybody. They took me on wild rides delivering rice to some really remote areas where white guys were so rare that they mistook me for the local Catholic priest because that was the only white guy they knew.

There was one time where I was trying to take a shower. If you don't know, you draw water from the well or get it from the tap into a bucket and then you dip a cup into the water and pour it over yourself, cleaning yourself with the water. And Helen's family had a pretty nice setup out behind the house, a little place with leafy walls to give a little privacy. Except that the walls only came up to here (mid-thigh) on me. So I spent the whole time taking showers squatting down and trying to figure out how to get clothes on without standing up. We made it work.

But the thing is, when I came back to visit the second time, Helen's family--my family--had built an indoor bathroom just for me. Not only were they welcoming to me, but because I was on the inside, they were thinking about me and my...unusual requirements.

When I came back the fourth time, this time with Helen, her uncle came up to me one day outside her sister's house and asked me, "So you're a businessman?" "Yes." "You travel a lot?" "Yes." "So when you're traveling you must meet a lot of ladies." "Sure." "Ever take advantage of their...hospitality?" Because of my relationship with Helen, I'm on the inside and so her uncle feels no qualms about checking on me. He had a bit of a checkered past himself, but he cared for Helen and he cared for me enough to be nosy. 

Here's the point: you may be here with a broken family, painful memories, a history of hurt given and received. It's messy. But because of Jesus, it is not what we have lost, it is what we have gained. I grew up knowing a brother, a half-sister, four stepbrothers and two stepsisters.  Home was complicated. But in this room, in his church, I have dozens and dozens of brothers and sisters. And in this town, I have hundreds and hundreds. Tied together by the common blood-bond we have in Jesus.

Conclusion: A Life for the Ages

Probably the most famous macguffin of all time is the Holy Grail. Indiana Jones, King Arthur, Monty Python all on epic quests through mountains, swamps, narrow gorges and ballistic cows to find the secret location of the cup which reportedly held Jesus’ blood as he died on the cross.

But it is a lie. The power of a life for the ages isn’t found in a missing magical mug. It is found in the Jesus whose blood filled that cup to bring us back to God.  Eternal life isn’t a macguffin-a plot device or carrot that God holds out in front of us to manipulate us into being good. It doesn’t start tomorrow or when we die. It is the new life-life for the coming age-that starts the moment you put Jesus in the right place and call him, not good teacher, but the good God. John wrote:

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. – 1 John 5:13

Otherwise we aim too low. C. S. Lewis said:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”[3]

Take for a moment the following assumptions: 1) our hearts are idol factories and 2) we are particularly blind to our idols. What do we do?  Here are four questions that help me gain a high definition look at these idols:

1.          What do I habitually think about to get joy and comfort in my private thoughts and dreams?
2.          What do I easily spend my money on?
3.          What habitually irritates me?
4.          What frustrations lead me to explosive anger or deep despair?[4]

 If you’re struggling with these, ask your close friend, or your husband or wife. Spend time with a group of friends in your church for a year or two. They can help you.

Then, what do you do if you suspect something? Talk to God. Tell him your answers to these questions, honestly. And tell him that you want him back in 1^st place.

In your bulletin, we’ve provided a little prayer card for this week. Don’t toss it or lose it in your purse. Hang it on the fridge. When you get up in the morning, and you see it, take a moment and pray it (not because these words are magical, but because you need talking before coffee). It says:

PRAYER CARD

Father, thank you for all of the good things you have given me. I want to hope for what you want. I want to take what you offer. I want to long for what you provide. Please don’t let anything take my attention away from you. When I am feeling irritated this week, when I am speaking down about someone, when I am worried, help me to see if the root cause is a counterfeit god buried in my heart. If so, remove it ruthlessly no matter what because I want nothing between us. Thank you for being my father. Thank you for your family that you have placed around me. Thank you for Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Macguffin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin, retrieved on July 3, 2016

[2] Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, chapter 1, Copyright 2009

[3] C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

[4] Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, Epilogue, Copyright © 2009 Tim Keller

Luke 9:37-50: Avoiding The Epic Fail (Redux)

[This sermon was preached on January 31, 2016 at Cornerstone Christian Church, El Dorado Hills. It is a significant update of a previous sermon from January 2013 that you can find here.]

Avoiding the Epic Fail

Luke 9:37-50

Introduction

A few years ago, when my family and I were riding a bus in Ireland to our destination, a man boarded and sat immediately in front of me, disheveled and smelling of sweat. I remember thinking, “Here is someone in desperate need of the grace of soap.” My mind wandered: soap is readily available, surely he noticed, who goes out in public without an armpit double-check. Then it hit me: we all stink. Stores spend aisle after aisle stocking products designed to conceal this pungent, fundamental fact. Deodorant, anti-perspirant, cologne, perfume, air freshener, etc. In fact, if we weren't all so focused on spraying or wiping or spreading or applying these products every waking 24-hour protection moment, we would probably be used to the fact that we all stink and would be unaware. But once the first person tried to hide it, no one wanted to smell our body odor.

In many ways, we try to apply this strategy of the grace of soap to our spiritual lives, trying to hide the fundamental fact that we all sin--that we all stink. Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy, calls it the gospel of sin management. We ignore it, we hide it, we mitigate its effects, we try to only enter situations where it won't show, we excuse it, we emulate the lifestyle of the stink free. All of the while, denying the fact that we are all stinkers. When we see sin break through, in all of its destructive power, in someone's life, we all think: they should have applied more soap--more forgiveness--more careful rule following.

But the strategy of Christ is fundamentally different. It is the grace of regeneration. As Paul says: "...since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:9-10)

The problem with the gospel of sin management it that it accepts that sin (stench) is fundamental and that the means of better life is keeping sin under control. But Jesus offers a different strategy: regeneration.

We miss out when we settle for a limited, spiritual life of stink-regulation! God’s plan—his kingdom—involves so much more. Here’s how Paul described it:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen - Ephesians 3:20-21

Got that? Now, if you want the epic fail, do the opposite:

1.    First, you dream small dreams instead of God’s dreams.

2.    Second, power those dreams by yourself instead of with God’s power.

3.    Third, promote yourself instead of God.

Ok. That's it. You can sleep now, you’ve got the main point.

You know I work in computers. One of the most difficult types of failures to debug is called a “priority inversion” It is will a low-priority program grabs ahold of computer resources and then won’t let them go when a high-priority program needs them. Priority inversion has taken down the Mars Rover, it has taken down Windows, it has taken down banking systems, it has taken down my job performance…and let me tell you—priority inversion can take down your life. We let little dreams sabotage God’s dreams for us. We hold so tightly on to our resources that we are not free to grab ahold of God’s resources. We are so worried about our maintaining priority, that we never let God’s priority be promoted in our lives.

It can happen to us. It happened to Jesus’ best friends in the second half of the 9^th chapter of Luke’s biography of Jesus. Four times in fourteen verses, his disciples will fail.  From a Bible point of view that’s not a very good track record. So what happened?

Well, let’s take a look. Turn to Luke, 9^th chapter, starting in verse 37. Jesus is on his way down from the mountain where he was praying, and when he gets down, there is a huge crowd and lot of noise, because of the first of his disciple’s epic fails.

Fail #1: Want To Appear Competent (vs. 37-40)

It says:

³⁷ The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”

Jesus’ disciples could not cast out a particular demon. Failure #1. The story only makes sense if you look back at the very start of chapter 9, where it says: “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.” (Luke 9:1) Notice the word “all”. Something has happened. Jesus is frustrated by this, and says so, and then heals the boy and restores the family.

Before we look further at this first failure, just a side comment about demons. When we read passages like this, we might wonder whether this young man’s problem was something like epilepsy and those in Jesus’ time just thought it was caused by a demon. Certainly Christians have been guilty of assigning demonic causes to ordinary events. But look carefully at verse 42. Luke (the author) is a doctor and he notes that Jesus “rebuked” the demon and then healed him. That is, there were two problems: a spiritual problem and a physical problem and Jesus recognized them both. Sometimes, in America, we are so fond of ‘natural’ causes, that we miss the spiritual side of things that many other cultures are aware of.

Why is Jesus frustrated? Look what he says:

⁴¹ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “How long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

What was the root cause of the disciple's epic fail with the demon? He mentions two keys to their failure: first, the disciples were a part of an unbelieving generation. That is, even though they had all of the power and authority they needed to do this job (see verse 1), and they had practice (see verse 2) and they even had success (verse 6), they had slipped back into not believing—or not trusting—God.  They failed.

Second, they were a part of the perverse generation. This means that their desires—their want-tos—their motives—were off-the-mark. They had switched from “look what Jesus can do” to “look what we can do”—they wanted to appear to be competent. Casting out the demon has become about their competence--their abilities--not God's abilities.

Now before we get too hard the disciples, what about us? Most of us aren’t demon caster-outers. Our version of the Serenity Prayer goes: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the firepower to make the difference.” We want to appear like we’ve got it all together. We don't just want to help someone, but we want to be appreciated as the type of people who help, or the type of people God uses to help. I am a master of hinting at what I’ve done and hiding or excusing what I didn’t, and so are you. Our want-to is broken. Jesus gives us the keys to the kingdom, and we drive off on the victory lap as if it is ours.

Do a little experiment with me: Breathe in. Breathe out. Try it again. Where do you get the power to take that breath? From God, that’s right. Where did you neighbor get the power to take his or her breath? That’s right—same place--from God.

It is not religious, spiritual, church-related, demon-exorcism tasks that require God’s power. It is every task. Taking one breath without God is about as effective as taking one breath without oxygen. Very unfulfilling.

In fact, there's a bit of misinformation floating around among Christians. We often hear: “I tried to do it in my power, and not in God’s power.” It’s all God’s power, start to finish, beginning to end.

Look at this a different way: You have exactly enough strength to do everything God wants you to do tomorrow. You have exactly enough time to do everything God wants you to do tomorrow. Because God gives it to you.

We fail when we want to appear competent, on our terms. We win when we humble ourselves, throw away our plan, follow God's plan and allow God to be competent:

 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” – 1 Peter 5:5b

Fail #2: Want To Appear Smart (vs. 44-45)

Let’s look at failure #2.

⁴² Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.  ⁴³ While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Luke tells us that while everyone was excited about the external miracles, Jesus repeats His message to the disciples about His suffering and death, and they still don’t get it. Jesus is trying to prepare them for the time when he is gone, and they must continue the job that he started. Their failure is not so much that they didn’t understand (what’s new?), but that (in verse 45) they were afraid to ask about what they didn’t understand. They looked around, and none of the other disciples were raising their hands, so they didn’t raise theirs. 

What were they afraid of?

·       Maybe they were afraid of Jesus, after he had just chewed them out.

·       Maybe they were afraid to hear the answer, because it might contradict what they wanted. They were afraid of the truth.

·       Maybe they were afraid to look dumb in front of the others.

There are so many things that I don’t understand. There is such a huge gap between God’s understanding and my understanding. But we can ask.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. – James 1:5

How often I have relied on this verse! God is the creator of good ideas. We just discover them. This is true in my job. It is true in my relationships. It is true in this church. Jason LaRock, is an inventor, with a couple of patents to his name. I've got some. I have a friend, Vincent, who has over 300 patents. Was God surprised by what we came up with? Did God go, “Gee, I never thought of that?” No! But when we delight in what we find--what he’s already thought of—he draws us in and say, “Let me show you what else I’ve got.” Why not draw upon the genius of God?

We do not fail for ignorance. We fail for holding on to ignorance and not asking God.

We fail when we want to appear smart. We succeed when realize and rely on God as the smart one.

Fail #3: Want To Appear Important (vs 46-48)

First, we fail when we know what to do but don’t trust God enough do it.

Second, we fail when we don’t know what to do and don’t ask.

Let’s look at the third failure, found in verses 46-48:

⁴⁶ An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. ⁴⁷ Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. ⁴⁸ Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”

The third failure comes when we want to appear important. Jesus just told them he will be betrayed, suffer and die. But the disciples skip right over that because they have their spiritual calculators out, punching in the numbers of converts, demons cast out, sick healed and prayers answered, trying to determine who has the highest score. But that misses the point.  We don’t win. God wins. And those points on the scoreboard? They are God’s. He draws people to himself. He rebukes demons. He cures sickness. He answers prayer. It is God’s grace from start to finish.

But then we ask…who got more grace points? [sound of Jesus smacking his own forehead]

We even see this in the church.

Francis Chan a pastor from Simi Valley exploded onto the evangelical scene a while ago when podcasts of sermons he gave at his flourishing, 4,000-member Southern California church went viral. But then in late 2010, he up and quit, saying, "I just want to disappear for a while." One thing that bothered him, he said, was that "even in my own church I heard the words 'Francis Chan' more than I heard the words, 'Holy Spirit.'[1]

Pastors don’t need to hear “What a great sermon!” They need to hear “What a great God!”

It happens to pastors, it happens to us.  We advertise our virtues on the job, so that others notice us. Only the beautiful pictures end up on FaceBook. You spend time with the cool people, so that you’ll at least look cool, too.

Instead of making the mission about me, we need to make the mission about God.  We don’t need to be important, we want God to be important. Here’s what I want to highlight:  lives changed, books written, relationships healed, communities revived, symphonies performed—by God. Does the stories you tell at work or school—or FaceBook--tell a story where you are the hero, or where God is the hero?

We fail when we want to appear important. We succeed when we want God to appear important.

Fail #4: Want To Appear Special (vs. 49-50)

This same attitude of “making the mission about me” led to the fourth failure, in verses 49-50:

⁴⁹ “Master,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” ⁵⁰ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Here is the irony. The disciples notice a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name—the very same thing they failed to do back in verse 38—but he is succeeding and they want to stop him!

Why? “Because he is not one of us.” They seem to say: “if we fail, so should they!”  Spiritual envy.  “If at first we don’t succeed, neither should anyone else.”

They are embarrassed and outdone, so they won’t give any credit. The Bible says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15) but the Tim Lewis translation says: “Criticize those who rejoice; make fun of those who mourn.” Some of you have read my translation.

This happens to us. Do you thank God for another church’s growth, another believer’s growing life of faith, another marriage’s closeness or another co-workers promotion? Or does their success immediately cause a critical remark or thought in you?

The disciple’s motto was “Anyone who is not with us is against us.” But Jesus’ motto was “Anyone who is not against you is for you.” Jesus just redefined the win. The win is not what Cornerstone does for God. The win is what Sun Hills and Vintage Grace and Lakeside and Lake Hills and Cornerstone do and beyond, for God. The win is not what Tim does, or Max does or Randy does for God. The win is when God appears uniquely as God.

We fail when we want to appear special or unique. We succeed when we make God appear special and unique.

Conclusion

Imagine an app on your phone that decided that the phone exists for its benefit. That inverts your phone’s mission so that instead of serving you, it serves itself. What do we call an app like that? A virus.

The virus of selfishness and pride always tries to hijack our lives away from God and towards ourselves. The results are destructive. We fail because we take the life that God has given and repurpose it for goals for which it was never intended.  The Bible says:

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. – James 3:16

We know this to be true. The worst and ugliest moments of our lives are the results of our pride. But somehow we return again and again to pride’s destructive influence. It was only the selfless act of Jesus, the innocent son of God, wrecked on the cross which can combat it and restore our broken soul.

Imagine for a moment if we could be genetically re-engineered so that the pores in our skin no longer secreted stench-generating liquids. Not all at once, but gradually. Fundamentally changing who we are and how our body works.

This is exactly what the gospel does. It brings to bear God's life-giving, regenerating Spirit in our lives so that, bit by bit, sin is not the natural product of our lives. Paul said it this way: "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." (2 Corinthians 2:15)

Yes, we still need to wash. But we can cooperate with the Spirit's transformative work, not settling for sin-as-the-new-normal in our lives. 

Here is the win: God love me. It is God’s grace, I can’t take any credit.

·       We don’t need to appear smart, because God loves me.

·       We don’t need to appear important, because God loves me.

·       We don’t need to appear special, because God loves me.

·       We don’t need to appear competent, because God loves me.

“Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” – Romans 10:11b

Maybe you’ve realized that your 2016 new year’s resolutions were your plan, self-powered and self-promoting.  Maybe for 2016 you can ask God

1.    To follow God’s dreams and plans instead of yours.

2.    To power those dreams with God’s power instead of yours.

3.    To promote God’s reputation instead of yours.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen - Ephesians 3:20-21

That is the epic win.

Some material from the sermon “Getting It Wrong” by Steven Simala Grant, http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/getting-it-wrong-steven-simala-grant-sermon-on-faults-137584.asp?Page=1 retrieved on January 8, 2013

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[1] The Relentless Passion of Francis Chan, Mark Galli, Christianity Today, posted January 4, 2013. Retrieved on January 12, 2013